Ice Blue Eyes
by twisted eden
Summary: FINALE UP (should i make a sequel?)---Takani Megumi, raised in foster homes and craving love, seeks temporary refuge at the secluded villa in Kyoto, owned by the tacit Oniwabanshu leader, Shinomori Aoshi.
1. Unwelcoming Invitation

ICE BLUE EYES  
  
By  
  
Ori Oscuro  
  
F O R E W O R D: This is my first time to delve in guess what: Aoshi - Megumi angle, (A refreshing break from my usual Soujiro x Misao) Probably this is my best first and last Aoshi-Megumi installment, each chapter an unfolding development and drama O_O that would be worth your while (10 chapters, finished and ready all for loading!) The time line and characters references from actual Ruroni Kenshin is a bit altered for some reasons to fit my setting of early 20th century Japan. There are a lot of references about Aoshi's eyes in showing his emotions, Misao is a whole lot younger not to mention Megumi got a silly nickname, and Enishi in a role that one would less imagine -_- read on and make a review.  
  
** Standard disclaimer apply, all characters of Ruroni Kenshin are created by Nobuhiro Watsuki (which I borrow for fan purposes)  
  
**  
  
Part 1: Unwelcome invitation  
  
A soft breeze caressed Takani Megumi as she gazed from the bedroom window out into the velvet dark of the night. The cobbled court yard below was bordered by the beautiful cherry blossom trees and faraway she could make out a graceful mountain with a faint white snow cap silhouetted against the darkening sky, as tired as she was from her journey, she could have looked out onto that scene forever, so different was it from everything she'd ever known. With an effort, she turned to finish unpacking the last of her luggages.  
  
Her plush bedroom matched the surroundings in beauty, and she soon found its splendor was more equaled by that of the attached bath, a private hot spring for herself. Eager to soak away the grime and fatigue of the long day, Megumi undressed and settled gratefully in the warm water. Her immediate cares slipped away, and for the moment she could concentrate on relaxing--- and she could forget what had brought her to the secluded baroque-inspired villa of Shinomori Aoshi, a man she did not even know. Megumi has yet to meet her employer, who had been in a nearby town temple when she arrived. But she had spent a few delightful minutes with his precious adopted daughter, Misao.  
  
After her bath, Megumi went back to her room. Lifting her hair with both hands, she piled it on top of her head and studied her reflection on the mirror. She didn't look a day older than 24, though recently she'd felt at least one hundred. Sighing she let the sleek black locks cascade down her shoulders and turned to the bed to pick up her kimono and other items.  
  
Suddenly she leaped backward with a gasp as something brushed against her bare toes, she looked down and instead of the curling back of a venomous scorpion, and she saw a pink ribboned braid of dark hair under the rose bedspread. She knew it belong to none other than Misao Makamachi, and she is determined to wreak playful revenge on her host's 9 year old daughter. Quickly, quietly, she walked to the other side of the bed, and then in a flash dived under it, reaching for the small wiggling figure. Grabbing the small sturdy body, she tickled her ribs and the child laughed, turning from side to side in an attempt to get away.  
  
"So this is the little monster that attacked my toe." Megumi nipped a small arm with her teeth. "I'll teach you monster, to go around attacking people."  
  
"No.no! I'm a princess!" the child shouted between giggles.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well I'm an Amazon woman!"  
  
The playful scene was soon shattered, when a voice boomed out, "What in the name of common sense is going on here?" Megumi heard the deep voice before she saw the two shiny black shoes planted firmly beside the bed. The child grew still at once, and then a delighted impish smile lit up her pixie face.  
  
"Otousan!" In a flash Misao was out from under the bed. Embarrassed, Megumi climbed out and stood up with much dignity as the circumstances allowed and turned her head up to look into the richest pools of icy blue she'd ever seen. She barely managed to stifle a gasp of surprise, but was unable to tear her eyes away from those brooding sharp depths.  
  
Even if his eyes are remarkable beautiful and striking on its very own way against his equally sharp features, there is a hint of cold intimidating look within them. And the way they implore her was as harsh as his voice as it broke the silence. "Who the devil are you?"  
  
Megumi was frozen with shock. Her mouth opened and trembled, as she took a low bow. "Takani Megumi."  
  
"Oh for Buddha's sake! Dr. Gensai didn't say. I assumed you would be.well, to be frank, closer to retirement age!"  
  
She licked her dry lips, "I have ways to go, I'm afraid."  
  
"I can see that! You're not at all what I expected," he said distastefully,  
  
She took a quivering breath, despising the tears that sprang to her eyes. "Sumisamen, I'll leave at once." Bold words, she didn't know where she would go, but pride forced her to say them. He didn't respond immediately, but allowed his gaze to flicker over her, the icy blue eyes narrowed to mere slits, and then he gave a brusque gesture.  
  
"We won't discuss it now. Be in the library in fifteen minutes. Have you had dinner?" His voice was impersonal, crisp and cool.  
  
"No, I haven't," she said with a tremor in her voice. Never removing his eyes from her, he nodded his head slightly and said, "Fifteen minutes."  
  
"Certainly," she responded coldly.  
  
He walked out, with Misao following closely behind.  
  
*****  
  
As soon as he was gone, she flung herself onto the comforting softness of the bed.  
  
She cursed her fate, coming here to Kyoto seemed like such a good idea! Dr. Gensai is an old friend and acquaintance and has known Aoshi through some members of the clan he belonged, called the Oniwabanshus. The kindly old man owned and runs the clinic in his own home, and on which she had taken refuge in few years ago. Being a medicinal practitioner herself, and with no place to go after living in countless foster homes, Gensai takes her in and find her resources very much needed in his clinic that he insists her not to only work under is tutelage but also to live with his family as well, free of charge. From there, she briefly encountered a group called the oniwabanshus, and an elder named Okina that both resides in Kyoto. They are more than Dr. Gensai's patients as she presumed, and she heard the name "Shinomori Aoshi" brought up a time or two. It came to a surprise that one day; Dr. Gensai had told her that he arranged her to take a leave of absence from her work so she can go to Kyoto to help Aoshi with his adopted daughter, Misao.  
  
"It's not that we don't like you Megumi, no.no.not that, but what I see ahead of you is a bright future. You are the woman fit for the job that Aoshi might be looking for. It's also about time you get to see the world beyond these walls, you are young.you got a lot of good things waiting. Besides, you have always been a good care taker of my grand children Ayame and Suzume.you will do well when you meet his adopted daughter, Makamachi Misao."  
  
"Adopted?"  
  
"Yes, you see Misao's real parents are killed when she was still a baby.it couldn't be avoided in clan rivalries and disputes."  
  
To be more appropriate, the Oniwabanshus are a clan. To Megumi, they seem not only to be a clan but a fighting one; they might be ninjas, better yet.spies.  
  
"That poor girl." Megumi said, her voice alighted with more than pity. She can relate to it. She lost her family not so long ago in the Aizu fire, during the Bakumatsu and she is the only survivor. Even though the incident is known to be a tragedy in proportions, she can't shake the thought that it has something to do with her family. More or less. After all, she came from an influential family of doctors. This young girl Misao is quite lucky not to witness how her parents are taken away too early in her life.  
  
"The man, Shinomori Aoshi was a newly designated clan leader by that time. He soon took responsibility by looking after her and later he became her legal guardian, with the help of some members of the clan, the little girl is now a healthy hyperactive 9 year old." Gensai said, "But, Shinomori Aoshi is a man not to be easily bent with family matters. He spent most of his time with the clan and other duties that the only time he would go home will be night time or sometimes he never comes home at all."  
  
"So no one had the time to look after Misao, Dr. Gensai.kids that age needed a lot of their parent's attention and tutelage. They need love!" Megumi said, she felt almost sorry for Misao. It gave her the urge that she has no more second thought in taking the job.  
  
"Yes, yes indeed. I heard they sent some of the oniwabanshu's to baby sit, but to no avail. She have grown quite a tomboy without a mother figure around to look after her, and pretty rebellious without her father figure around much often. Maybe your presence is all that needed to make the child happy and wanted. I trust that you can do it Megumi,"  
  
Megumi finds herself saying yes, even if she felt a pang of guilt in leaving the place she came to knew as home, for some reason she finds it a chance to get herself away.desperately away from other problems that Dr. Gensai does not even know. Her secret affair with Yukishiro Enishi has just come into disastrous ending. The dangerous man has become an enemy to the friends she knew in Tokyo, that she found one night in the outskirts of the forest almost fatally wounded when everyone thought he is dead. She reluctantly healed him back to health, in discretion. Then some mutual feeling she thought might have been love forbidden, started an affair. Somehow she believed that the life and death experience Enishi suffered might make a change in him somehow. After all, the past is a past. But it was not until it was over did she realized how much he have used her---- emotionally and financially, reverting back to his old self. As an orphan who had been brought up in foster homes for most of her life, Megumi realized that her folly in trusting Enishi came from her deep-seated need to be loved and accepted. After the break-up, she can't confide it with anyone else---not even Dr. Gensai who had taken her in. She cared so much for the man that had given her a place and a home that she feared for his health if she confesses her relations with a former formidable adversary. She felt so isolated, and little did she know that the old man sensed it, surprised her by giving her a new job so she can get her mind away from other things. And he made sure, that it would be emotionally rewarding for her. Kyoto is quite a trip, and with the feared and respected Oniwabanshu's leader Shinomori Aoshi as her employer, security and protection is at her side. Perhaps, she could help little Aoshi's daughter Misao find her way in life. She will have a caretaker that will be more of a mother she never had.  
  
Megumi finds Misao as a wonderful young girl to get along with, and she wouldn't have a hard time looking after her. But when she came face to face with her employer Aoshi, things took a different tide. She could have imagined what made the man a feared and respected in his late 20's--- holding the highest designated post in the clan. He is a stone of man, used to rigidity and giving orders. He can dismiss a person with such distasteful words for he had a way to prove it.  
  
Megumi finally rose and went to the mirror and bathed the tears from her eyes. As she looked at herself, she felt a new resolve. She would not let another man devastate her, as Enishi had. If this Shinomori Aoshi thought he could bully her, he had another thing coming. After all, he was only a man.  
  
(Translation: otousan=father) 


	2. Ice Blue Eyes

Part 2: Ice Blue Eyes  
  
  
  
Megumi emerged from her room and directed by Okon, one of Aoshi's aids and among the close four of the oniwabanshus staying in the household, she made her way tremendously to the library. When she got there, the door was slightly ajar, and her host was talking on the telephone.  
  
"No, I'm not angry, Dr. Gensai." She overheard him saying, as Aoshi addressed her mentor, "But dammit, you should have told me a little more about her. I assumed she was older. How the hell was I to know she looked like a young woman? She grew up in foster homes? Oh wonderful, that's just what I need! A sweet young opportunist without a family, who'll insinuate herself in my life!"  
  
The awkwardness of the situation made Megumi clench her teeth. The man stopped speaking, and she heard the click of the receiver being replaced. She waited a moment longer, and then knocked on the door. When his command to enter came, it was with reluctance that she pushed open the door and entered the book-lined room.  
  
He was standing in the shadows at the far end, his dark head out lined against the light draperies. He didn't bother to move as she closed the door.  
  
"Sit down, Megumi." It was an uncompromising order.  
  
She sought a small, straight-backed chair. She seated herself, and then faced him. He walked to the large, leather-covered desk in the middle of the room, and seated himself on the corner, all the while keeping his fixed gaze on her. Although his glance now is cooler than before, almost clinical that is, Megumi's body responded to his scrutiny with an almost sensual shudder. She was furious.  
  
The conceited prig! Who in the world did he think he was to subject her to such treatment?  
  
When he spoke, his voice was softer than she expected. "How old are you?"  
  
"Twenty-four." She was so angry she could hardly speak.  
  
"Twenty-four." He repeated, meditatively. "You look about.eighteen."  
  
Megumi's lips tightened, "My problem, not yours."  
  
A smile almost reached his ice blue eyes. Unusually so, for the person who glared so coldly of her few minutes ago. "You're not what I expected. Dr. Gensai said you are also a medicine practitioner and very experienced one, way back at his clinic in Tokyo. He neglected to mention that you were young and attractive so I assumed you are older. After all, that's quite a responsible job and his clinic----"  
  
Megumi did not let him continue.  
  
"Well, I'm a responsible person. Aoshi-san" she said calmly, though she was furious inside. "I'm sorry Dr. Gensai misled you. Naturally I won't impose on your hospitality." She couldn't keep the words from coming, but bit back and swallowed her desire to tell him what she thought of him.  
  
Silently he continued to look at her. Suddenly, he stood and came toward her, but just walked past her to the door. With his hand on the knob he said, "Let's have dinner."  
  
Megumi wasn't sure she had heard right. She got unsteadily to her feet and smoothed her kimono with shaky hands.  
  
"Come on," He led her out of the library to a small cozy room where a table was set for two. She can see that her employer have everything in big European style, as he held out a chair for her, placed a large bowl of soup in front of her, then served himself and sat down across from her. Megumi glanced at him quickly.  
  
Damn him! Why is he acting now as if she were her guest? But her tension eased and she had finished half the soup when he spoke again.  
  
"While we're eating I'll tell you about Misao. In few more weeks I'm taking her home where she'll start public school, she's already 9 years old and children that age already are sent to proper schools to get decent education. I suppose you don't know that I actually live in Osaka, although of course I do spend a lot of time here with matters regarding the clan and duties compromising that after all, Kyoto is the Oniwabanshu's base. We have other onmistus sent in other parts of Japan, but I want to see how things are going myself. At any rate, Misao is not yet ready to lead such a life and I think it's better that she get to know how the fast-changing world works. She is a year early to start secondary school, but I was told she'd be taken in if she could master a few basics. She needs help to accomplish that. Dr. Gensai told me you work well with children, and he thought you could help."  
  
"And now that you have seen that I'm not middle-aged and fat, don't you think I'll be able to handle it." Megumi snapped. It was a petulant thing for her to say and she knew it. The twinkle in his eyes told her he knew it too, but he ignored her comment.  
  
"Misao has a procession of my aids looking after her." As if he glanced up outside to signal them, four uniformed people, two men and two women entered the room. All of them are wearing a uniform that Megumi presumed was the Oniwabanshu's colors. They bowed down to their Master and stood up upon his command. "I've presumed you have met Okon," Aoshi said, and the woman with a tight ponytail bowed her head, greeting Megumi with a small smile. "This is Omasu," he pointed to another female with draped hair. "And lastly, Kuro and Shiro." Shiro looks like an average guy but Kuro is a hulking, big man that could almost make his master look like a pygmy. But the man seems gentle as he sheepishly greeted Megumi, and she swore he is blushing.  
  
"Even with them, Misao is not spoiled by the attention.but she's a rather well-adjusted girl. What she really needs are children to play with. It's important for her to get into school now." And with that, he dismissed the Onis with just a flick of his wrist. Megumi then continued to eat, and whatever it is, it seems Aoshi is determined to make conversation. "Dr. Gensai told me that you are already an accomplished one in Aizu before you worked in his clinic in Tokyo, he said when he met you, you don't have a stable residence around and even if you're known in Aizu you travel from place to place. Do you like the work?"  
  
She ignored his question, preferring to pose one of her own. "Now that you've seen the opportunist who was raised in foster homes at government expense, what do you think?"  
  
Unbeknownst to them, the Onis are listening outside. Omasu and Okon have their ears firmly planted by the door while the men, Kuro and Shiro uneasily walked back and forth at the corridors of the hall. Omasu cupped her mouth in making a loud gasp, "Oh my! Ms. Megumi is standing up against Master Aoshi! That is not a good thing."  
  
"I don't know.I heard Master Aoshi is gravely disappointed with Megumi. I think she over heard him about how bitterly he talked about her on the phone." Okon replied, "I was there, I heard it."  
  
"Master Aoshi won't let just anyone stand up against him in this house, especially subordinates. He will have her fired.I felt sorry for her." Kuro sympathized, and everyone waited for what to happen, in dead silence.  
  
A glimmer of admiration crossed Aoshi's face, and his lips twitched slightly. He raised his eyebrows. "You don't miss much, do you?"  
  
"I can't afford to. I'm all I've got."  
  
They finished the meal in silence, and when Aoshi rang a bell, Okon readily came in and quickly took the dirty dishes away, cleaned the table, before she went out of the room. Aoshi could hear hushes as she went outside and guessed that the other Oni's might be eavesdropping but he didn't care. Right now he feels interested in conversing with this somehow feisty woman, who is fiercely determined to battle him with wit for a wit, a persona underneath her fragile pallid looks. He poured them both tea and said, "Tell me about yourself."  
  
"You know all there is to know, Aoshi-san." She replied, "Dr. Gensai thought I could help you with Misao, but I see now he was wrong. So if I could trouble you for transportation here in Kyoto tomorrow, I'll check into an inn."  
  
His blue gaze flickered, "Are you always so confident?"  
  
"No, not always," she answered honestly. Somehow there is something aside from his eyes that caught Megumi's attention. His almost rigid-like, expressionless façade slowly changed, his mouth forming what seems a small smile. Aoshi's face is showing a warm interest and an emotion that is considered alien for him for sometime.  
  
"I want to know more about you, Megumi. Your plans, your ambitions." He said.  
  
She was silent for as long as it took her to fight down the angry words that leaped from her lips. When she spoke, her voice was wooden with control. "Aoshi-san, I fail to see how you can possibly be interested in my personal ambitions. That you find me unsuitable to be in your home is your privilege, but pry into my personal life is not."  
  
His eyes locked into hers. He looked deep, as if he were looking into her past, her present and her future. His face went back to being expressionless and his words when they came shock her.  
  
"I think I've changed my mind about that matter. Does anyone call you Meg-chan?" his voice was almost lazy, as if he were talking to himself.  
  
Surprised by his question, she shook her head.  
  
"Then I shall," he said softly. He sat up and flexed his shoulder muscles wearily. "It's been a long day. Go to bed, Takani Megumi. In the morning I'll dig out the list of requirements for Misao."  
  
Megumi's lips parted in dismay, "You want me to stay?"  
  
He got to his feet and stood looking down at her. "Yes Meg-chan. I want you to stay." A smile creased his cheeks. He reached down a hand and pulled her to her feet. As he looked at her his incredible ice blue eyes softened and suddenly they seemed to envelop her in a warm snare of tender amusement. "Don't try to figure me out, Meg-chan." he said gently.  
  
He turned her toward the door and in her confused state she was scarcely aware she was being conducted to the foot of the steps leading into the upper balcony. On the first step she turned her face level with his, a curiously guarded look on her face.  
  
He was standing very quietly, his eyes probing hers with a startling intensity. She hesitated, and then started up the few steps. Once she reached the top she looked back, but the hall is empty, and the last few minutes she'd spent with him seem like a dream. 


	3. The woman that made him smile

Part 3: The woman that made him smile  
  
  
  
The next morning Megumi was up, dressed, and standing beside the window when the sun made its first appearance. She had spent a restless night. Shinomori Aoshi had floated in and out of her dreams all night long. She wasn't sure why, but even now it made her faintly uncomfortable to think about him.  
  
On impulse she picked up her umbrella and left her room. She walked slowly down the stairs and upon reaching the court yard, was pleased to find that the sunlight was already warm. She crossed the court yard, and moved toward the back of the house. She rounded a corner and could see the glimmer of water in what looks like a small, man made lake. She heard splashing and Misao's excited voice.  
  
"Ohayo, Meg-chan."  
  
Somehow Megumi wasn't startled by her host's voice. Aoshi stood in the shade of a flowering shrub. Wearing his own oniwabanshu uniform and colors, he was rubbing his head with a large towel. His jet-black hair is wet, clinging like tattered ribbons to his face, and she figured that her employer must have joined his young daughter in a short swim before he resorts back to business.  
  
"Otousan! Otousan! Let's play!" Misao called out, playfully waving her hands and splashing the water about. Shiro and Kuro are sitting by the other side of the lake and keeping an eye in watching over their Master's hyper active daughter. Misao got tired playing with them, and presses for her father to stay longer.  
  
"Not now, Misao." He said, and with that phrase the little girl pouted and proceeds to play with Shiro and Kuro again.  
  
Megumi looked into the sharp blue eyes and decided that she liked them----- this morning anyway. Last night they had been more ferocious. "Ohayo." She replied.  
  
"Do you want to take a swim?" he asked softly.  
  
"No." Her answer was too abrupt so she softened it. "No, thank you. I don't swim."  
  
He placed the towel on his one shoulder, "Well then, I'll tell Okon and Omasu that you'll breakfast with Misao and me."  
  
She watched him move away and then, not knowing what to do with herself, she went back to her room and applied a touch of lipstick, then ran a comb to her hair.  
  
When she went downstairs, it was with Misao's hand tucked firmly in her own. The girl was a delight. She had come into Megumi's room, her long wet braid hanging over her shoulder and an impish grin on her face. Megumi had brushed and re-braided Misao's hair while she kept up an endless chatter. She was going to be fun to be with.  
  
"Megumi-sensei?" she addressed her politely, as she gazed to the mirror. "Is it okay if I address you like that? It makes you sound so old."  
  
"Oh no, sweetie its okay." She said, giving the last few tugs to her braided hair. "It's far polite unlike your Otousan." she made a small mischievous smile that made Misao curious, "He wanted to refer me as Meg- chan. It sounds silly, isn't it?"  
  
"Meg-chan!! That is so cute!" Misao squealed in delight, "Did Otousan called you like that?"  
  
Megumi nodded.  
  
"Then I'll call you Meg-chan as well." She giggled, "What Otousan says, everybody follows." Looking at her with soulful wide green eyes, Misao added, "Meg-chan, you are the only woman in household that ever made my Otousan smile. Ever since he moved to this big stone house, he is always busy about business matters. He rarely plays with me anymore."  
  
Megumi fixed the ribbon at her hair, "I don't think so Misao, I think you also make your Otousan smile in your own way. That makes two of us."  
  
"Really? You think so?"  
  
"Of course, dear. I do."  
  
Breakfast on a shaded terrace was easier than Megumi had thought it would be. Misao acted as a buffer between her and Aoshi. She watched him with his daughter. He didn't even remotely resembled the stern-faced man last night; although more relaxed now, he was far from careless in his attitude toward the little girl. When she spoke he listened closely to what she is saying. And Misao, Megumi was surprised to discover, took on a more mature personality when she was with him. The young girl takes the chance to bond with the only parent she knew, while he still had time to. Aoshi somehow shed some of his coldness and shows some affection to his adopted child.  
  
"We're going to enroll you in a school when we get home, so you'll be very busy," Aoshi told her half-way through the meal. "Meg-chan is going to teach you some things that will help when you start school."  
  
Misao looked at Megumi with eyes big and round with astonishment, and sang in a medley as she asked Megumi "Are you Meg-chan, meg-chan the amazon woman?" (**refer to part 1; under paragraph 5 to get the joke-author.)  
  
Aoshi laughed. The blue eyes gleamed at Megumi. There was nothing too familiar in his eyes, so she smiled happily back at him.  
  
"You have to call her Megumi-sensei, Misao. But if that's the way you like it, you can call her as Meg-chan if you want."  
  
"I want to," she said simply to her father, "Otousan, can we show Meg-chan your garden? Otousan grows the finest plants and most beautiful orchids in his small garden, he sometimes do Tachibana. Why, he is the one who transplanted the wonderful cherry blossoms crowning the entrance in the front yard! Otousan, onegai tasukete.can I show her my Kirei?" she said, tugging to his sleeve as she refers to her favorite bonsai plant that Aoshi gave her on her 8th birthday.  
  
"If Megumi would like to."  
  
"Orchids? Oh I would love to see them." Megumi exclaimed, astounded that a man of stature and beyond reproach as tacit as Aoshi would grow plants and do Tachibana (flower-arranging) for a hobby.  
  
"Finish your meal first, Misao," Aoshi said sternly though his eyes were smiling.  
  
*****  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Misao led them away from the porch. They went through a door way and down a corridor into, a small exit with only a thin curtain as its door. Misao opened it for them and ran, the path leading them to another garden.  
  
Just few feet outside stood a manicured replica of a Japanese garden. Although the villa is constructed with western influence and style in every way, Aoshi had requested that a part of it shall have a local ambiance. His fascination for plants, give him a decision to make a local garden. The view is absolutely simple and breathtaking, as a small bridge eclipse over a lake, which is bejeweled by floating lotus and lilies. Bonsais were being tamed to grow in where lime stones, white pebbles and ceramic pots are artistically placed. Dry trees lined the green earth, and small pots are attached to them, growing are the orchids of all colors and sizes. They release such sweetness and fragrance in the air, that it attracts a couple of butterflies, and other pleasant flying insects. She was speechless for she had never seen anything so lovely.  
  
"I-It's beautiful!! Absolutely beautiful, and the orchids!" she exclaimed breathlessly.  
  
Misao pointed out to one particular plant, "I helped Otousan divide it and next year I'll have a flower. I'm going to name it Kirei,"  
  
"You had already had a plant named Kirei, Misao." "Well, it would be Kirei number two. They are both beautiful!"  
  
And beautiful they are, Megumi can't help but compliment about the flower. "Lovely! You'll have your own corsage. I had one given to me by a dear friend when he asked me out, I kept it in a cold place for days and days."  
  
"Who is your DEAR friend, Meg-chan? Is he a man?"  
  
Megumi never got to answer the question, she caught Aoshi looking at her strangely. He reached down and plucked a large ivory bloom from one of the pots and handed it to her. Megumi's red lips parted in speechless astonishment. "O-Oh, you shouldn't have! It's beautiful. Perfectly lovely." She smiled at him. "Arigatou, demo." she protested, "I don't have a cold place to put it in,"  
  
He smiled back at her from the depth of his blue eyes and she felt a shiver go through her body. Her self-consciousness, which had temporarily left, returned.  
  
They left the fragrant, serene ambiance of the Japanese garden and walk back into the courtyard. Aoshi reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper. "Here's the list of requirements from the school." He said, then finally putting on his long pale beige wide-collared coat. Megumi noticed how regal he looked when he wears them. "I'll be gone until evening on some private matters regarding our omitsus in the northern side, so meanwhile, you and Misao can get started with her writing, traditional Japanese and math. I'll tell Omasu to have dinner served for the two of us in the formal dining room so you can wear your orchid."  
  
He gazed at her steadily for a long moment, then he was gone, leaving her feeling curiously unsettled. What was about this man that made her so perturbed, she wondered. She tried to get a hold of herself, and together with Misao they went upstairs to her room to begin working on the school's requirements.  
  
That afternoon Megumi wrote a long letter to Himura Kenshin, the man she met when she went to Tokyo and rescued her from an almost wandering life, and helped her, along with his friends, to bring somehow some justice on her bleak past. He had inspired her with the sense of permanence and stability, as he introduced her to their local doctor, Dr. Gensai to which she worked and lived for sometime now. She cannot thank him less, and when she was sent to Kyoto for the new job, she forgot to tell him and his friends that she was leaving. To compensate with it, she addressed them a letter knowing he would want to know about the unusual events that had brought her to the magnificent Villa in Kyoto. A man like Aoshi must have earned a fortune in having brought the house, after all, not all Japanese people can afford what he brought. Before she sealed the letter, she asked for Okon, one of the oniwabanshu keepers in the household, for the address of the villa so Kenshin could write her.  
  
"To your Kazoku?" Okon asked, indicating the letter.  
  
"No, to a dear friend."  
  
She asked Okon if she had a family. The question opened the way for a full hour's visit.  
  
"Master Aoshi is a wonderful man. Don't you think?" Okon asked finally.  
  
"Oh yes, he is very nice." How could she say, that he scared her to death?  
  
"Master Aoshi, gave you a bad time, ne?" Okon, her eyes warm with sympathy, spoke with the familiarity of a friend rather than an employee.  
  
"No, he has a right to know about the people he takes into his home."  
  
"Master Aoshi is not a hard man. He may appear to be so, but he is an important person. That's why he acts rigid or harsh sometimes, he have to show what respect is worthy to be one's leader and by not showing one's weakness openly. Resuming a great responsibility at such a young age has forced Master Aoshi to mature in harsh reality of life."  
  
"He seems rather of age for his position," Megumi paused, she heard of clan leaders but most of them have obtained their posts in the age after 30. "Although for a man becoming a leader in his late 20's, it's remarkable that he rose to ranks that fast."  
  
"Master Aoshi is some sort of a prodigy. He was chosen to be the clan leader at the age of 15,"  
  
"Fifteen?" Megumi's eyes widened with surprise. Aoshi is barely in his adulthood when the responsibility of leading his people fell to his shoulders. She figured then why Aoshi behave like so, starting with his clinical remarks and his stiff reception just last night. He have to put a strong commanding front to his people at 15 to respect him, as he grew older, it grew more than a façade. It became what he is now.  
  
Okon told her about the oniwabanshus, then asking if Megumi have already met Okina during her days in Dr. Gensai's clinic. She said that she might have recalled him, but he is always accompanied heavily by other onis, if she remembered it clearly, he is a wise old man with a funny- ribboned beard. Okon pointed out that Okina is one of the veterans and best respected oniwabanshu's around his field and have somehow at one point became Aoshi's mentor. He was voted by the tribe to take the highest post in the clan, but eventually turn it down for he claims he is too old to take on dangerous missions, he urged and nominated the then young Aoshi to take over.  
  
"But," Okon added, "Master Okina and Aoshi is never alike. Their personalities clash, but in over all both men are stubborn." Okon told Megumi, that it reached to a point when both men have a show down, and Okina ended up badly injured. Seeing Megumi's startled expression, Okon presses not to further elaborate the story. She just concluded that it nearly strained their relationship and could have taken away Misao from him. "Four of us, were sent to take Misao away and bring her to Okina, which she fondly remembers as her ojisan. Master Aoshi didn't take the threat seriously, and during one of his nocturnal outings.we went out to get her, she was just around 6 by then."  
  
"Did Aoshi-san do anything about it?" His past, intrigues her. "Did he try to get Misao back?"  
  
"Not after for three years," Okon replied curtly, "He knows what Master Okina wants and it was then pride that got the better of him that he held back. At first he didn't seem to care, in fact he seems satisfied that he does not have to burden himself to look after a child. But I think there is something with that little girl that drawn him and he went to the household when Master Okina is away, and we are in charge to look after her."  
  
"And.please continue,"  
  
"It nearly breaks our hearts to see Master Aoshi's face," she continued, looking up at Megumi. "Misao detests at the sight of him, and its not easy to reason with a child. She was angry that because he never attempted to visit her during those three years, and she heard from others that he does not care for her at all because she was adopted. She never wants to go back to him. Somehow it hits him in the sensitive spot, because after all, he did raised her since she was a baby. Afterwards, he confronted Okina into a serious conversation and somehow he gave in. but he demanded that he wants to have Misao back. Do you know why he brought this large place?"  
  
Megumi recalled her employer's words, "He told me that this is the strong hold and the oniwabanshu's quarters. And lately, some members moved to Osaka"  
  
Okon looked around, "That's true but." she continued, "Master Aoshi wants to make some time to bond with his only daughter, and he have to take her away far from Okina from Osaka so he could do so. He brought the villa, because of Misao's fascination with western culture. It was like a make-up gift for her, nonetheless, Misao became so excited that she forgot that she was angry at him. But business sometimes takes out some quality family time, so Misao was left alone in the house much often. Okina learned about the situation, we are sent here to Kyoto to look after her. It took some months before Master Aoshi trusted us NOT to sneak out Misao again."  
  
What Okon said after all make sense, there is a different air with Aoshi when Misao is around him. It seems that, for a time being he can be a different person. His eyes were kinder, and his words can be pleasant and nurturing. He spends quality time on her if he can. Then it hits her, if Misao has the four onis looking after her and is re-building her relationship very well with her father, what is she needed for?  
  
"Master Okina is concerned that Misao needs a mother, to groom her to a young proper woman and he thinks that it's best for her to have a mother is have Master Aoshi settled with a woman." Okon said, "Master Aoshi does not have time for a relationship, to him its foolish. That's why he insists that he will hire a proper tutor himself, someone who can teach Misao without involving personal feelings. That's when you came in."  
  
"Oh I see," she didn't know whether to take it as a compliment, "So did Okina-san stop insisting afterwards? I mean Misao is doing well now that I'm here."  
  
Okon shrugged, "That we don't know. Master Okina is a man of resourcefulness, he sees Master Aoshi like a son and he wouldn't stop at anything till he attains some level of domesticity. He wants him to marry a woman of his caliber, preferably someone that can also carry on a strong bloodline and pedigree. The Okashira of the Sanada clan, Moriya Misanagi is Master Okina's best choice. It's to strengthen the ties of both clans."  
  
"And did he agree with it?"  
  
"No, In fact not even that woman can make him smile. One can tell that Master Aoshi likes the person if you see him smile, which he hardly does." Then there is some glint in Okon's eyes, something entered her head that made her smile. "We use to think, Megumi-san. that his daughter is the only woman in the world that can make him smile. He seems to take a liking to you too."  
  
Megumi gave a perplexed look, "No I don't think so, Aoshi-san." she spoke, ".Aoshi-san is just making up for his harsh actions earlier last night. I presume its natural for a man to act good natured if he wants apology for his actions, if he can't say it well."  
  
Okon looked at the clock by the window, "Oh! Pardon me Megumi-san, I forgot I have chores to do!" she made a low bow, "I have to go now, please be ready when Master Aoshi comes home. He would be disappointed if he sees his date is not yet ready."  
  
"Hai."  
  
Okon left the room, and Megumi slowly reflected the things they discussed about the Oniwabanshu leader. He was only 15, when he took the position and never got a chance to enjoy the life of a young man and was forced to mature early on, then he took in the responsibility of raising Misao. When he told her he brought the house for important purposes, she never imagined that he did it for the concern of his only daughter. That he went through a bitter argument just to win her back. She believes it, she could see it in his ice blue eyes, melting in warmth as she observed him at the tender moments when he talks with Misao.and when at times, looking at her with also the same gaze.  
  
Did Okon said she was his date? She shrugged the notion, thinking the oni was just teasing her. Somehow the hour long-talk made her understand him a little better, now, but pity him, she did not. She would be a fool to feel a moment's pity for such a self-assured person.  
  
*****  
  
Megumi was quite nervous about having dinner alone with Aoshi and had piled her long black hair on top of her head in an effort to look mature. A soft knock finally came on the door. She pulled it open and there he was. Aoshi smiled at the surprise on her face.  
  
.We used to think, Megumi-san. that his daughter is the only woman in the world that can make him smile. He seems to take a liking to you too. Okon's words re-verbrated to her head. She tried to shake the thought of it. There is nothing going between them. It's just a formal occasion for both tutor and her employer, no more no less.  
  
"Why so surprised? I live here too. Remember?" Aoshi said, the words died out as, all of a sudden, he was looking at her strangely. She wanted to go into the closet and hide.  
  
"What's the matter?" she asked, forcing her tone to be light. "Have I got egg on my face?"  
  
"It's you hair. You are not the suave, urbane type. It makes you look jaded."  
  
Was he teasing? He couldn't be flirting with her!  
  
She tried to laugh. It wasn't much of a success. "Perhaps I am jaded."  
  
He laughed and she decided again that she liked his eyes. "No. You're refreshing, soft as a tofu, and." he tilted his head and studied her. "And.whimsical."  
  
"Whimsical?" Did he think she was a feather-brain?  
  
"I should have added stubborn, argumentative, and late for dinner. Brush out your hair so we can go." He moved into the room. Megumi looked horrified. "Do you this often?"  
  
"Ask women to take their hair down? Of course not. Sometimes I do it for them." He was grinning broadly. Could this be the cynical hard case of a man who almost threw her out of the house last night?  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Daijoubou.But if it looks like a mess it'll be your fault."  
  
"You couldn't look like a total mess if you tried."  
  
"You're totally.unpredictable."  
  
"And you are wasting time."  
  
She removed the pins and her hair cascaded to her shoulders in a silken velvet wave.  
  
"I was right." The satisfied look on his face made her sorry she had given in so easily.  
  
"Are you always right, Aoshi-san?"  
  
"Not always, Miss Takani. I didn't think tofus could bite." There was mischief in the icy blue eyes. Without thinking, she allowed him to take her hand. "Hungry?"  
  
"Starving," she admitted. And suddenly she was no longer nervous about having dinner with him.  
  
Aoshi didn't release her hand until they walked into the dining room. It was a long luxurious room illuminated by a crystal chandelier. Aoshi seated Megumi and was about to seat himself when he looked down on her and smiled.  
  
"Now what?" Megumi asked grinning.  
  
"It's the orchid," he said. She had pinned the beautiful flower on her dress. "It isn't right there. It should be snuggled down in that gorgeous hair." He studied her seriously for a few seconds. "In that curve just under your left ear."  
  
"Now you tell me. I don't have a bobby pin."  
  
"I'll fix it. I got a clip in my pocket."  
  
She felt foolish as he fumbled with her hair and stirred restlessly.  
  
"Be still or it'll fall in the soup."  
  
She knew she should be feeling ill at ease and self-conscious. Instead she felt herself glowing with anticipation at the thought of having a dinner with this attractive man, in these elegant surroundings, and being the object of such attention. All her thoughts about him awhile ago, have now long faded.  
  
Aoshi finished securing the orchid in her hair, sat down opposite her and asked Omasu to bring in the food. All through dinner, the conversation flowed easily as she chatted with Aoshi as if she had known him all her life. When the meal was over Aoshi tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and they went for a stroll outside, where the moon caressed the velvet skies with it's soft luminous glow.  
  
As the evening progressed, Aoshi took her to his Japanese garden. There is a small wooden Japanese house near it the section she haven't seen before, and he urged her to go in. To her surprise, that small house happens to be a private theater inside where guests would be treated for a performance. They sat at the cushions in the floor, and Megumi noticed that they were not alone, in fact the Onis are with them to watch. Everyone gave their greeting, and most especially Okon, who has a secretive smile.  
  
"When we have free time, we always scheduled something to watch together. So we arrange a special act for everyone to watch." She explained, as if to answer Megumi's questioning look. Aoshi just sat beside her, and his silent gaze lifted to the stage.  
  
"What you are going to see now is a Nohgaku performance," he said lightly. Nohgaku or Noh drama as it was known, is a highly stylized and symbolic drama, and is usually performed by a few male actors and musicians. A main character often wears a mask which fits its role. It had been patronized by the higher military class which was the most powerful social level in Japan. After the Meiji Restoration when the old hierarchy was discarded, it tried to win new patrons and succeeded in attracting the nobility and wealthy people. Nowadays, it is gaining support from among the general public. The vocal part called Utai is performed by both actors and a chorus of eight male singers and tells the story. It is which, derived from Shomyo (Buddhist chanting) includes singing and speech stylized a definite pattern of intonation. The instrumental part known as Hayashi consists of a bamboo flute, or nohkan, and three drums, ko-tsuzumi, o-tsuzumi, and taiko. Short and sharp shouts by drum performers known as kakegoe also play, enhancing the tension of the music. Megumi watched as the Utai lets out a sorrowful narrative of how a woman ready to cast her life down to the mountain depths, sacrificing her life so that the gods would spare the life of her children. It was accompanied by the enigmatic flowing sound of the nohkan, as the heroine says her last words, bidding farewell to her husband who won't let her go, the husband's desperation is shown by the slowly mounting emotional beats emnating from the three drums. The scene is so stirring that tears misted her eyes and she turned to see Aoshi looking at her. His hand came out and covered hers where it lay on the cushion between them. She wasn't least embarrassed for him to see she was moved by the execution of acting in the Nohgaku drama. She turned her eyes away feeling peaceful, content to let her hand remain beneath his.  
  
(Translation: kazoku= family; ojisan= grandfather daijoubou= alright) -hooray! another chapter done **points the review stats** ^^; 


	4. Yukishiro Enishi: Haunting of the Past

Part 4: Yukishiro Enishi, haunting of the past  
  
[Spoiler alert: you guys won't like what (I made) enishi do here in the fic O.o BE reminded that this fic is not angst. Only in the extremes ( ]  
  
The marvelous days continued, and she felt all the while as though she were suspended in time. The hours she spent with Aoshi and Misao were both wonderful and strange for a woman who had never known family warmth before. The little girl was a delight to be with and Aoshi treated her as if she were an old and dear friend. She never allowed herself to think of Aoshi's life outside the villa. She didn't want to think of him as a man who's a leader of a complex clan and fighting group directing dangerous missions.  
  
One day, Megumi and Misao were picnicking in the yard and were having a particularly riotous time, giggling and tickling each other.  
  
"This has got to be the noisiest place in Kyoto." Aoshi came in, amusement spread all over his face.  
  
"Otousan!" Misao ran to him and he lifted her up and kissed her before he set her on her feet. "Hi angel, Am I invited to the picnic?"  
  
"There's none left. We ate it all."  
  
"Never mind. I don't have time anyway. I'm going to see old sensei."  
  
"Can I go see ojisan? Can I and Meg-chan come with you?" Misao's voice was coaxing and she wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him with pleading, green eyes. Megumi flushed because his eyes are on her.  
  
"Not this time. Next time I'll take both of you. Off you go, now, so I can talk with Meg-chan for a minute." He watched her leave. "I'll be gone till tomorrow, Miss Takani. Keep Misao busy, ne?"  
  
Okon's words about the Okashira that his sensei wanted him to marry flashed through Megumi's head. Not knowing where she got the courage to do so, she teased him. "I'd love to meet your sensei one day. He sounds like a very determined man. Okon says he got your future all mapped out for you, including your future wife."  
  
She was astounded at the audacity of her words and expected him to lash back at her. Instead he looked at her without anger. "That will never happen," He made the statement firmly and emphatically as he turned to leave.  
  
*****  
  
The next day.  
  
"Meg-chan! Meg-chan wake up!!" Megumi heard the voice vaguely through the veil of sleep. It had to be Misao, who else would run to her room and call her by name? She wished her head would stop hurting so she could open her eyes. "Wake up, Meg-chan!" As the voice called out again, the bed heaved and her stomach with it.  
  
"No, don't jump on the bed.angel. I am-----" she felt a strong wave of nausea, and her stomach churned once more. Then she noticed that her skin has bathe in cold sweat and is very feverish. Misao noticed that her tutor is paler than usual.  
  
"Are you alright, Meg-chan?" Misao asked, as she crowded beside her at the bed.  
  
"No Misao, I feel sick." Megumi felt the wave of nausea hit her again. This time she didn't restrain herself and ran to the bathroom, she threw up.making her feel a whole lot better.  
  
"I can get Omasu to the nearby village to get you a doctor," Misao said, her wide green eyes full of concern. "Don't be sick, Meg-chan."  
  
"No need for it Misao, I'm a doctor myself.I know what to do. I will be right down there for breakfast.okay?" She managed a faint smile, and the little girl gave her an uneasy look.  
  
"Okay," and she quietly leaves her room.  
  
But Megumi knew to well what is going within her, after all she herself is a doctor. She knew the signs, it has been weeks late for her cycle and the past few days she felt a mild fever that she ignored, thinking its just exhaustion for keeping up with Misao all day. But then, now she is experiencing nausea. It all came to a shocking resolve that she knew all the time.  
  
Enishi  
  
Absentmindedly, she tries to recover from the shock and gets through her morning routine. She bathes, dressed up and eats breakfast with Misao and the Onis. Afterwards, she can't concentrate to help Misao with her lessons and decided that she would take a brief walk at the yard in the villa to cool off her senses. However, Misao insists to go with her. So they strolled outside, Megumi finds the cherry blossoms enchanting, easing her mind and as they crown the entrance from the front yard in its own beauty. She kept an eye on Misao, who was playing with a ball near the flowery shrubs and trees by the cobbled yard, not so far from where she was.  
  
At one point, the young girl dropped the ball into a certain distance, she got up to help her find it but to her surprise, there is a figure lurking in one of the shaded trees. Misao looked up at the stranger in surprise, which seems a man, whose sleeved arms stretched and gave her the ball. He is wearing a cloak draped to his shoulders and when Megumi saw him slowly step out of the shadows, she saw the familiar white hair.  
  
"Thanks, mister!" Misao exclaimed, "Meg-chan! This man gave me the ball!"  
  
"So, they call you Meg-chan around here," a malicious grin curved the man's lips, he glanced down at the little girl who is looking to him curiously. "So this is your little ward? A spunky cute girl isn't she?" he stroked the Misao's head, as Megumi clenched her palms tightly. "What's your name, little angel?"  
  
"Misao!" she chirped, her green eyes gleaming. A child can easily give her confidence immediately. "You, what's your name, Mister?"  
  
"Leave her out of this, Enishi." Megumi finds herself gritting her teeth, her nails digging deeper to her palms until it was raw. Yukishiro Enishi, even if wearing his glasses---has this sardonic gaze within his eyes that made her even flare more.  
  
"My, my.it's that how you greet an old friend?" "I'm not your old friend."  
  
Megumi told the rather confused Misao to go inside immediately, and leave them alone for awhile. When she asked why, she told her it's an important talk between grown-ups, to which Misao obeyed and proceeds to play inside. However, her thought to confront him then and there quickly disillusioned and she tries to walk furiously away from the garden until she reached the parlor of a veranda near the garden, where they can't be seen by anyone as Enishi paced calmly at the stone steps to the veranda, more or like cornering than following her.  
  
"She seems rather spoiled by father, isn't she? Not even the nobility could afford the luxury of this house."  
  
"It's an old house," she replied curtly, each word coming out from her is filled with hate and anger. "Why are you here Enishi, why can't you just leave me alone? Isn't it enough that you have made me suffer?"  
  
"I had my ways, I'm afraid." "And you could never change."  
  
He didn't reply back at her, he was gazing to the stone house. "Isn't it remarkable that how Aoshi could afford to have this as his own? I thought he is retiring from his 'business'. Haven't seen him much back in Tokyo."  
  
"W-what do you mean?"  
  
"Oh, don't you know? He and Kenshin-gumi are allies. They help out each other in crucial times, well both of their forces did a remarkable job in eliminating enemies who are either too dangerous or considered a political threat. Also in a point, they did take me out eventually. I sure did think I was a goner out there after some time." He looks at her, with a strange meticulous gaze that she tries to avoid as he tipped her face with his finger. "And after that, I eventually met you. An enemy that saved an enemy, a love that sprang from hate."  
  
She shoved his hand off, her voice shaking with cold fury. "There are no friends or foe when it comes to being hurt; I did what I have to do as a doctor. Now, if you could please go."  
  
"Have you ever wondered what Aoshi will do if he learned you have an affair with an adversary?"  
  
"It's over. Forget that it ever happened, Enishi. I thought I could I trust you, I was wrong." Her voice sounds much jittery; the sharp eyes are like prying her even under those lenses. Damn him, that manipulative bastard, she thought. He will make her look like a traitor in front of Aoshi's eyes, now that when she already lead a comfortable life, a trust and a true friendship with her employer and having an endearing ward to take look after with. She didn't know how on earth Enishi has traced her from Tokyo, but she shivered at the thought that he could follow her anywhere, do anything he wanted and make her feel helpless.  
  
"I had always taken a liking for you, Takani Megumi. My fondness for you is that in a way you resemble an essence of my dear departed sister."  
  
"And that fondness, you want me to be your tool for your revenge. You want to get even again, with my friends."  
  
He shook his head, and let out a small chuckle that made her blood run cold once again. He glanced back at her, and with a mischievous but intense look in his expression, he wrapped his right arm around her, pulling her dangerously close to his body and inches away from his face. There was a sensual arresting gaze within his deep cold green eyes "I never did think of revenge, when I made love with you."  
  
Before she knew it, in an instant he took hold of her. His mouth pressed to her lips and starts to kiss her passionately and rough as if to consume her, his right hand clinging to her long dark hair, not wanting to set her free, tilting her head so he can dart his tongue into her mouth. She fought back, trying to pull herself away, not wanting to be fooled by once and for all by his persuasions, his conniving nature, his kiss.  
  
Enishi suddenly paused and his eyes suddenly became affixed to something behind her. Megumi heard a gasp, and turned around. She saw Okon, who happens to be doing her garden chores looking at both of them in a shock and horrified manner, she dropped her things in recognition of the stranger that she had caught Megumi is sharing a passionate moment with.  
  
"S-Sumisamen! I.." she gave a hurting look to Megumi, "I really have to go. I'm sorry to disturb the two of you."  
  
"No! Okon, it's not what you think it is!" she tried to call her, but the female Oni strode furiously. "Okon.he is." but it was too late, she went in the stone house immediately.  
  
"I see that the Oniwabanshus still recall me very well," he said in a calm, unerring manner. "It's hard to forget a familiar face."  
  
A stinging slap came as a response, creasing a red welt across his face. The impact is so hard that it threw down his glasses to the damp, grassy ground below. When he looked up he saw her grief-stricken pallor of her face, angry eyes stricken with tears.  
  
"Have you come this far, to ruin again my life?"  
  
He stroked his swollen cheek, trying to force a ludicrous smile but the impact of the slap is so hard that he can't manage. From that point Megumi can see his face clearly without the tinted glasses, and he is better off if he wears it back. "Why no," he replied in a soft tone blanketing its cold calculating conceit within it. "I just came to get you back, but if you won't.I will do anything in my will to make sure you do."  
  
"You won't make me," "Not even if you know you are caring my child?"  
  
"Wh-what? How did." Blood has drained from her face, how did he find out? Was it that obvious? She hasn't told him yet anything and he stood there with a nonchalant expression as if he knew what was going in her mind. His green gaze is fixed upon her, and he continued. "I'm not quite as shallow like you think Megumi. You won't just easily leave your current place in Tokyo and take up another job just for the heck of it. It's not the pay check, it's not because you like little kids.you just want to go away from the reality." his eyes took a darker sinister shade, ".the reality you denied, what happened during those two weeks when the weather raged with torrential rain. It happened more than once; don't you think I don't know there is a possibility of conception?"  
  
"I admit it's true. But you won't care even so."  
  
That's because he used her? When she thought a man with his character could change, she believed in it. Merciful Buddha, how she recalled how foolish she was to give in to his conniving nature that a point she had not only arrested her heart and soul, but also her body. It took her for a week to find out, that he was using her more than emotionally.even though not the obvious, but she can tell. Just when Dr. Gensai brought up the recruitment job of a tutor in Kyoto, she was first reluctant at first. When she realized it's the only way she could get away to the man she wished she never knew, she broke up their secretive affair and quickly fled without looking back. Somehow she thought that it is all over, but the forbidden and doomed relationship had bore fruit.  
  
Now, it raced her mind whether he came all the way from Tokyo with that intent in telling her. The fact he said it so cool and detached as if there is no particular warmth in him, even when she stammered out that his conclusion was right indeed.  
  
"Oh, but I do care. I believed that it's a man's right to acknowledge his child," he continued, with one hand against the wall, pining her below it trapped. He looms over, with his expression unreadable, his eyes deeply compelling as if in any moment she wishes he would just strangle her. She twitched in surprise as she felt his left hand cupped gently below her stomach, "My flesh and your flesh, it lives inside you. Can't you see? You have my child, you are mine. I love you, Takani Megumi.you can't escape now."  
  
Before she can even react, something caught her eye just across the veranda. She can see the familiar pale-beige wide-collared coat cloaking an impressible figure. The figure passing by is nonetheless but her employer, Aoshi who just came back from his previous business engagement.  
  
He came back like he said, and she tried to call him out. But Enishi is pretty sharp to sense it, and covered her mouth with his other hand. "You can't call him out, not while I'm here." His voice commandingly stiff, and yet he made a devious smile.hiding an irrepressible desire of something he needs and he wanted, and its more than having her back. "I'm going to take you back to Tokyo, to hell with anyone who stands.against my family."  
  
She reacted in impulse, an act of desperation, a sacrifice almost suicidal to put it. But it's the only way she knew that would free her from his clutches and to catch her employer's attention.and run to the safety of his arms. "No, you won't have your damn family! You won't have me!" her tone is defiant, shaking him off her violently. With it, she flung herself to the veranda's stone stairs.  
  
The commotion caught Aoshi's attention in an instant. He quickly turned his head when she heard the desperate tone in Megumi's voice and that of another man. His blue gaze narrowed on the veranda as he saw a familiar cloaked figure with platinum-white hair, whose hands are clutching roughly on Megumi's wrists. She is to fall down the steps, intentional or not, and he can see that the man is trying to stop her in doing so. He couldn't understand why they are arguing, but when he saw that the stranger raised one free hand and slapped her across the face, instinct told him to rush in and interfere.  
  
"Let your dirty hands off her, now." He said coldly, as he stopped at the veranda's steps, blocking its path. Front in front, in a short distance he was taken aback when he recognized the person abusing his employee. There eyes met, "Yukishiro.what the hell?" Megumi took the distraction, and clawed Enishi's face, she turned around and flung herself down the steps. It all happens in slow motion, as she threw herself down the steps, Aoshi's eyes widened with bewilderment, as he rushed quickly in attempt to catch her. She could hear Enishi's angry voice, coming from behind and it grows fainter and fainter as she felt her body hit and rolled down the wide stone steps, each fall inflicting her with pain. Next thing she know, everything seems to spin around her. She could hear the clamor of voices, she felt a burning sensation knot to her stomach, she could see Enishi's colors and then Aoshi's colors clashing briefly, then in few minutes tender strong arms lifted her off the ground. She is not hearing Enishi no more, instead in faint consciousness she warily made out the familiar pale blue eyes, looking at her with full worry.  
  
"G-Gomen, Aoshi-san.it's my fault." she sobbed, speech was an effort. His face was near, yet curiously blurred as she clutched to the wide collar of his coat, not knowing what else to say. As if to console her, she felt the surge of warmth from her deliverer, as his firm hand held against her own.  
  
"You are going to be okay, Meg-chan." He said further no more, but it's the assurance she needed. "Everything will be fine, everything."  
  
And she drifted off from her consciousness knowing she was secured in his arms. He carries her gently away from the veranda and into his home, the sensation enveloping her with serenity as if she was being carried to the clouds. 


	5. The night in the party

Part 5: The night in the party  
  
  
  
Megumi's consciousness drifted back and forth. Vaguely she knew there were people in the room where she was brought. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on the person bending over her, but the effort was too great that she closed them again. With listless disinterest she felt pricks of the doctor's needle and heard the buzz of voice. Then she slept deeply and dreamlessly, holding fast to the strong fingers interlaced with hers.  
  
When she woke up, Okon was sitting in a chair beside the bed.  
  
"Ohayo, Megumi-san." Her small face expressed with concern.  
  
She remembered the last time she have seen Okon is when she espied her with Enishi at the back veranda. But she decided not brought it up first, "Is it morning?"  
  
"Hai," and she held up two fingers.  
  
"Two mornings have gone by? It can't be!"  
  
"I'll tell Master Aoshi you are awake."  
  
"No, don't bother him."  
  
"He say tell him when you are awake, Megumi-san."  
  
"All right. Tell him if you like." She was so weary and wanted to go back to sleep. But Okon just stood there, as if she has something to say.  
  
"Megumi-san, about two days ago." she spoke, and her weariness quickly evaporated, "I saw you with Yukishiro Enishi by the veranda..why.was he kissing you?"  
  
Megumi finds it no use to hiding the truth, she told her warily. "Promise you won't tell anyone."  
  
Okon nodded, although reluctant that a secret wouldn't be easily kept at the Oniwabanshu household. "I won't tell even Master Aoshi."  
  
"Yukishiro Enishi is." she swallowed hard, ".a former lover, I know who he was already at the beginning. I was only a fool not to notice men like him never change."  
  
"I'm so sorry to hear that," she apologized. "Is it okay, if I'll call Master Aoshi now? You might need more rest."  
  
She wiped the mist away from her eyes, trying to forget the painful episode a couple of days ago. He has to thank him. "No, please let him in."  
  
Through waves of fatigue she came back to certain awareness. Her eyelids felt as if two weights were attached to them, but with an effort she opened them and saw Aoshi.  
  
He sat down in a chair beside the bed. His gaze had a point of meticulous uncertainty in them, as if he is to say something that wouldn't be nice. She could tell, for there is a bothered look written in his face, and she prepared for the worse.  
  
"Megumi." Calling her with her own name means serious conversation, "I'm sorry about your baby. You could have told me you are expecting."  
  
"No." the word formed soundlessly. She tried to speak out, explain everything but her voice escapes her, her body was in shock. She didn't know what Aoshi would do now, how she will make him understand. His blue gaze is still transfixed upon her, and they took a kinder glow. "I understand, you don't want it to happen. But you'll need rest and so you can explain everything to me soon. You have been very sick, Meg-chan." the fondness of her nickname was mentioned once again, ".I won't force you if you are not feeling well, just go back to sleep and I'll take care of the rest. Don't worry about a thing."  
  
She couldn't have said anything if she had wanted to. He didn't even bother to mention Enishi in front of her. Instead with uncharacteristic impulsiveness, she grabbed his hand and held it against her cheek for a short moment. Arigato Gozaimasu. She didn't know if she said the words aloud or not, but she meant them with all her heart.  
  
*****  
  
When next she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an artistcally placed Tachibana. They stood in a vase on the table beside her bed. Everything was peaceful now and her body felt curiously light. It must have been almost evening, when Misao came to see her.  
  
"Meg-chan, Meg-chan, I have something to tell you! Guess what? Guess what?" she said excitedly.  
  
She smiled and hugged the child leaning over her, "What's this big news that's making you so excited?"  
  
"Otousan said someday I was going to have an Okaasan! One all my own!"  
  
The smile stayed on Megumi's face but the sparkle faded from her eyes, "Hey- ---that's great! That is big news!"  
  
For the tiniest moment she felt terribly disappointed. It was insane. She was glad for Misao. It was only.well.she hadn't thought Aoshi was even thinking of getting married. What was it that he said the other evening? He said something like, 'that will never happen.' He must have changed his mind. He was probably marrying Moriya Misanagi of the Sanada clan who Okon mentioned.  
  
A desperate feeling of loneliness possessed her, a loneliness that was her future. Turning on her side, she looked at the colorful flowers in the Tachibana. Her eyes roamed the room, taking in the beautiful furniture, the rich draperies and carpet, the outward manifestations of wealth and power. An abundance of love was the only wealth she craved, and if love were riches, she was most certainly a pauper.  
  
The thought sickened her and she had no appetite for her dinner, she barely ate any food.  
  
When Aoshi came into the room, she knew by the look on his face that he had inspected the tray Omasu had returned to the kitchen. He came to the side of her bed and stood looking down at her.  
  
"Your tray is scarcely touched. Couldn't you have managed a little bit more? The more you eat the sooner you'll get your strength back, no baka."  
  
"Yes, doctor." The blue eyes were having the most disturbing effect on her senses. "I wish you wouldn't call me names I don't understand." She hadn't meant to sound cross but it came out that way.  
  
A faint smile touched his lips. "What do you think I called you?"  
  
The sound of the softly spoken words sent shivers along her spine and she had the strangest curling sensation in the pit of her stomach that was fear or apprehension, she couldn't be sure which. Making an effort to control the situation with humor, she gave a nervous laugh.  
  
"Idiot?" she felt a small triumph at speaking the word so lightly.  
  
He laughed, "The word I used was complimentary. You must learn to be around with people so you won't forget your basic Japanese."  
  
She smiled and looked relaxed, but her brain was spinning. All sorts of wild thoughts were whirling around her head. She wanted to say, 'Are you going to marry Misanagi?' Instead she said, "Thank you for saving me, few days ago."  
  
"No problem." He said, "I was surprised that you knew of Yukishiro Enishi. What does he wants from you anyway?"  
  
She shuddered, "I-I don't know. But thanks for not suspecting me of anything.It are just he."  
  
She was lost of words. Lying there small and still, with his eyes on her, her pulse began to hammer heavily. A strange sense of awareness of him sent a warm glow through her whole being.  
  
For a moment neither one said anything, it was as if the two of them were frozen there in time, waiting for something to happen. Then Aoshi began to pace around the room, stopping to move aside the curtains so he could gaze out the window. Megumi felt panic grip her as she realized that he might marry soon and she would be out of his life forever.  
  
"I'll send Omasu in to help you ready for a good night's sleep," Aoshi finally said. "Tomorrow or the next day, or when you are feeling up to it, we are going to have a long talk about past, Meg-chan.and your future." He went to the door. With his hand on the knob he turned around. He waited to see her grin, then went through the door and closed it softly behind him  
  
Megumi slept fitfully through the long night. Her mind refused to allow her to rest. Try as she might, she could not fully assimilate the words Aoshi had spoken to her. Her future. It could only mean some arrangements were being made for her to leave Kyoto. Words, thoughts, emotions, all whirled around in her mind. Morning came and she was tired, but she felt somewhat better than these few days.  
  
*****  
  
"I'm going to a party!" Misao exclaimed, she was so excited that Megumi has to hold her firmly at her seat so she could braid her long hair. The young would be oni starts to chatter endlessly, "It's going to be great! Important people are coming, Europeans! They are going to meet with their Japanese counter parts. Everyone is going to dress beautiful like those in fairy tales!"  
  
Megumi don't know what's the fun in going in an adult engagement, but it makes the young Misao happy. She has a strange fascination for the western culture, and maybe Aoshi knows she is going to be excited so she is going to bring her along. For one point she did realized that he is spoiling his daughter a bit, but probably he is doing it to make up for the precious time wasted for those missing 3 years.  
  
"I want to look like Cinderella!"  
  
"Cinderella?" Megumi look at her quizzically, "what is a Cinderella?"  
  
"Cinderella came from a fairy tale. It's a western fairy tale." She pointed out a book, there are alots of them. Maybe Aoshi made it a point that she learns to read. But it's not ordinary titles. She saw books, with foreign author's names and with illustrations in a different world of fantasy. They look expensive, and richly translated in Japanese!  
  
"He brought all of them for me, ever since we moved here. But Otousan does not have time to read me before bed time, so at least one of the Onis has to."  
  
She stopped flipping the pages, "When is this party going to be?"  
  
"It will be later this night," The voice came to Megumi's surprise, that she nearly dropped the books. She is still not used in Aoshi's unpredictability, and she wondered how much he had heard. "It will be a strict formal occasion, so I hope you have some nice clothes brought, Meg- chan." He added, with a strange twinkle in his eyes.  
  
"M-me? Going to a party?" she ran her hands stiffly at her kimono in an effort to look good, not knowing what to say.  
  
"Yes, someone has to watch over Misao. You know how active she is, you are the only person she can tolerate."  
  
"But I thought you are going with her?"  
  
Aoshi folded his arms formally over his chest, "I have some previous engagement early this afternoon, I will probably follow up shortly as soon as I finished. It is a night event anyway; all I have to do is show up and represent myself in a couple of local diplomats. It's nothing much but your typical conversation, really."  
  
"But you will be there on time, right?" Misao pleaded, "Please?"  
  
"Of course, that's why I invited you didn't I? Otousan wants you to see a lot of different people. I just want Meg-chan to look after you while I'm not still there", he replied softly, and then he turns back to Megumi. "I will have either Shiro or Kuro to give you the party's invitation. They will also bring you there around seven at the time the party would be starting, so be prepared around 6."  
  
"But I don't have many clothes to wear,"  
  
"Then I will have Okon to be in charge of that," he said. Megumi was kind of perplexed the way Aoshi answers. It is like he is prepared for almost everything, whether with her knowledge or not. He put on his broad pale- beige wide-collared coat, and signaled his leave. When the door in the room of Misao finally closes, she can't help but ask the little girl.  
  
"It seems your father won't take no for an answer,"  
  
Misao smiled, "I think it's because Otousan likes you."  
  
Megumi look at her with full surprise, "That's ridiculous,"  
  
*****  
  
Megumi dismissed the notion of what her young ward thinks. Purely thinking that what Aoshi requested for her is because she has to look after his daughter, and nothing else. However, she DID wonder after all, that any of the oniwabanshus could watch over Misao. They are highly trained and can look after her if anything happens, and they have been there long since she had known her. But there is a logical reason why not so, the oniwabanshus are in charged in watching the household. They can't be in two places at the same time.  
  
True to his words, Okon helped her in looking for nice clothes later that afternoon. They went to several shops in the town to look for a nice kimono she could wear for the party. First, they look for darker bolder colors,  
  
"It doesn't look good, it makes you look jaded. You are not the suave urban type, simple but minimal will do for you." Okon replied, as she looked through Megumi's selections. Then she was startled to notice Megumi is looking at her strangely. "Anou.Megumi-san, did I said anything wrong?"  
  
"No.It's just" she spoke, "Your Master Aoshi said the same thing when we have a formal dinner."  
  
"Ah," Okon smiled, "Sometimes Master Aoshi thinks like a woman, most often he could be right." She sashes to other selections, and pulled one out for Megumi. It's a simple pinkish white kimono, its design includes beautiful cherry blossoms by the gardens, simple execution and strikingly beautiful. It comes with a lilac shawl, "How about this Megumi-san? You can put that orchid again over your ear and tie your hair low, it could be perfect! No one will be wearing like this at the party."  
  
She had to admit she does not like it at first, but when Okon and Omasu fixed her it looks absolutely stunning. The white orchid that she kept after the formal dinner is still fresh, thanks for the cold weather, and it sets the gown to perfection. Her hair is tied low, in an effort to look formal, with an ample twist, made her face look refreshing instead of its usual pallor. She used a milder color of lipstick to go with the kimono's design, rather than her usual cherry red.  
  
When she came to get her ward, she was surprised that Misao did persist that she'll go dressed as a European. The way of dressing, contrasts the principles of Japanese design, with ornate laces, ribbons and splendid layers of clothing to make the dress balloon down below, making it look like a glittering chandelier.or so as Megumi puts it. Luckily, the lilac and pink combination made little Misao radiant as ever, and not so over done like she have seen with westerners. Her attire comes with a pair of silk gloves and a bonnet, that she begged for Megumi's help to tie her hair in a neat bun, and help her wear the matching shoes that goes with it.  
  
She wasn't surprised to learn that it's Aoshi who let his daughter indulge in such expensive gown, since he also shouldered the cost what Megumi is going to wear. For some self-assured, he wants everything to look presentable and beautiful, something that Megumi noticed a little lately. Kuro, the biggest of the oniwabanshus led them out of the house and assists them in a ride on the way to the party.  
  
It was a very glamorous event that one would readily expect from social elite, the taste definitely a mix of the Japanese residents and their influential European counterparts blend in a magnificent wide green garden overlooking a mansion. So this was like to attend a "diplomatic event", Megumi thought, the foreign hosts had an extravagant taste for the surroundings that it took her breath away, the ice sculptures situated in long tables draped in white linens, the varied cuisine presented and the artsy presentation of plants and the house entrance has a pong adorned by flowers. This is the first time she had attended an event and the moment she sets her foot in, she felt bare.  
  
She was brought back to reality as soon as Misao let go of her grip, and ran quickly. "Misao, no!" she called out,  
  
"I'm going over Yutaro!"  
  
Megumi later learned that Yutaro is a young boy almost of Misao's age, and is a half-German half-Japanese, and happens to know the Kenshin-gumi as well. He used to train along side with Yahiko in kendo at Kamiya Kasshin dojo way back in Tokyo. Like Misao, he does not have any parents, and were adopted by their respective guardians. She could see what made the two friends. After meeting with Yutaro's guardian, a cordial middle-aged man, assured her that Misao will be in good hands, Megumi decided to take a look at the surrounding herself, in a possibility she might see Aoshi.  
  
She hasn't enjoyed much of her sight seeing, when she noticed a strange shadow by one of the garden's trees. It just stood there as if watching her, admiring her.and in just less than a minute, it seems to straighten up and approach her. When she recognized him she felt like she was about to run, it was the sight of the familiar white hair and the cold confident aura. It was Enishi, but what was he doing here? Someone invited him? Did he have connections? He had a wine glass at one hand, and he is wearing formal Japanese attire than the last time she had seen him. She froze to her steps, when she noticed that he is not wearing his tinted glasses at all.showing green eyes looking at her with such coldness piercing to her like shards of ice. Those cold emeralds, seems to lay a strange fearful hypnotic spell. For that certain moment, Enishi stood out so clearly, even in the shifting kaleidoscope of movement and color that swirled around him. It was as if everything and everyone except he was in motion, from the subtle shifting of tree limbs in the air and to the men and women who moved about in a blur of vivid hues and animated voices.  
  
Until he finally stood in front of her,  
  
"What are you doing here?" it sounds more like a strangled whisper, rather than a voice as Megumi finally spoke. "Who invited you?"  
  
"You look absolutely beautiful, you look good in off-white." He said, not answering her question. "Isn't it a small world, Megumi? It's nice to see you are here as well." he added, with an intended soft chuckle that sounded cynical that it sent shivers down her spine.  
  
"I have to look after my ward, it's my business." she said stiffly, then mustering the strength to look straight at him, she decided to pop out a sarcasm of her own. "I see you are not wearing your glasses, I wonder if they will recognize you."  
  
"But I see you still recognize me," he replied, with a sardonic grin. "You hit me so hard, that it fell down the pebbly moat. Smashed into pieces. But I can always have one made."  
  
"Enishi, can you state your business? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Oh, nothing much." He replied, getting himself a serving of appetizer, and placing one into his mouth. "You, what do you think?"  
  
"Whatever is in your mind, you won't have it your way."  
  
"Why, will someone protect you?"  
  
It irates her more, and she was consumed by anger with the insult that fear no longer lingered in her feelings. "In fact there is. Aoshi will see that nothing will happen to me. He already seen what you have done last time, he won't let it happen again. If he sees you, I swear he'll break every bone in your body and live to regret it!"  
  
Enishi didn't take her threat seriously, instead he find it humorous. Sickeningly humrous. "His skills are no match than mine, and besides if he did find out that you have my."  
  
"It's gone, I miscarried." She put in succinctly, "I threw myself down remember? It would be the last time I will be redeemed from the clutches of the likes like you. You will never have a hold on me, ever."  
  
He must have been shock the least, as she heard the clanking sound of a utensil that dropped from his hand. But he recovered to it quick, and returned her a cold gaze with his eyes as dark as deep green jade. "That wouldn't be so easy," he whispered. "What made you so confident, anyway? Had your employer heard of your 'liabilities'? Do you think he can trust you after that?" When he said liabilities, it more sounded like has a scheming plan on her, but she stood her ground. She had to say something that will at least intimidate him,  
  
"Aoshi is already my koibito. He learned to like me for who ever I am, unlike you." With that, she quickly turned around and paced furiously. She was glad to say the final word, and the relief that Enishi didn't bother to follow her, and never she attempted to look back. She fervently hopes, that he brought what she just said.  
  
(Translation: otousan= father, okaasan=mother, koibito=lover/sweetheart/darling) 


	6. Will you be mine

Part 6: Will you be mine  
  
  
  
Megumi was pleased what she have done, and decided she will need a breath of fresh air. It is about time someone has to stand up against that bastard, she thought. And never did she imagine she had the strength and confidence to face up with her fear. Maybe it's been the years, of being deprived of family and being used by others that finally she cried enough. Or probably, knowing that she had well-loving family in the place of the oniwabanshu's that she learned to trust herself again. She headed inside the house, very pleasant and roomy with a lot of people, but none that she recognized. It's mostly composed of foreign dignitaries and diplomats in a sea of black penguin-like suits, there are few women, some in kimonos and in dresses, but they are busy in talking about politics that she knew little of. She looks for Misao if she is doing fine, and is very relieved to see her tagging along with Yutaro, with his German guardian in tow. She recalled that the man is a doctor himself, and she decides to approach him and talk something finally, she can relate to.  
  
But the crowd of people makes it difficult for her to move. Maybe it's not a good idea to struggle and ran after them either, for her formal kimono has restricted her movements. The babble of conversations, people moving each in every crowded directions, plus the splendid orchestra playing at the living room area made her drained and exhausted, she decided to climb the wide winding stairs, which lead to one of the mansion's balcony.  
  
Outside the long, narrow stone balcony was deserted and poorly lit by a few small, flickering gas lamps that created tiny pools of feeble yellowish light surrounded by dark shadows. In Megumi's desolate mood, the lonely gloom of the balcony was infinitely preferable to the romantic excitement of the mythical forest that the house and garden decorations had created, and she was spared the painful irony of having to listen to the orchestra playing, "Fool falls for love"  
  
Hoping to be out of sight of anyone else who might decide to go outside, Megumi turned right and walked far away from the doors as possible, stopping only to the point where the balcony ended at the corner of the mansion. Standing at the white stone balustrade, she flattened her palms on the cool white stone and bent her head, staring blindly at her splayed fingers. In her one finger, she wore a ring with a stone set on it, an emerald. She noticed that when she looks at it, it reminded her of the cold chilling gaze Enishi has, so cold that it seems to pierce to her, and twist like a knife in the core of her being. Those green emeralds that turns into deep jade..  
  
She immediately shook of the ring in her finger and mindlessly threw it away. In the last few days, with the moment that they met in the garden yard is still fresh, her emotions had veered between the lethargic helplessness she felt now and the sudden bursts of angry energy that made her a whirlwind of mindless activity in front of him. It seems that she questioned it from the start. She and Enishi have a secretive affair. An affair. What was she thinking? She could have left him to die in the forest, if she just know how pain in the neck he would be right now. With them finally over, she worries at the possible blackmail propaganda he will be planning. She could imagine the betrayed look of her dear friend Kenshin Himura and her other friends' way back at Tokyo. Or the resentful despite imprinted in Aoshi's face. A new resolve has dawned on her, no way would she let Enishi destroy her life again, she already find herself a righteous home in hearts with the people who cares for her and she won't let him just take them away from her. She had enough.  
  
She had enough.  
  
She gazed through the yard below, and she still sees Enishi.only engaging himself in a conversation with a group of people, he later dismissed himself and turned around to go inside. She quickly leaned off so there is no way he could easily see her, and she hopes.would not attempt to look after her.  
  
In the mood of self-loathing, Megumi wished that she have altered her looks when she left Tokyo, so that the dangerous man wouldn't have followed her---to Kyoto, and to the party. She could have her hair colored, probably deep brown or have it cut or braided in an effort to depart from her conservative look. She could have changed in a different mode of clothing, into something much bright and vivid. She could have also changed her name.  
  
The bang of the metal door slamming closed made her look around in a wary alarm toward a tall man in a tuxedo who had just emerged from the lobby. Her relief that he was apparently one of the foreign diplomats or guests, rather than Enishi, was immediately supplanted by irritation that he was moving in her direction and not away.  
  
Cloaked in the shadow and silence, he kept coming toward her, his step slow, purposeful. His arms were bent at the elbows, and he was holding something in each hand. For a split second her fevered imagination conjured up a pair of revolvers in those hands; then he passed through a pool of gaslight and Megumi saw that in his two hands he was holding.  
  
Two glasses of champagne.  
  
She gaped at them, and then at him he closed the remaining distance between them. At close range, he seems remarkable tall and slender, the shadowy light made little of his features but she made out that they are sharp and a stern face, but his eyes are light and pale blue that seems disconcertingly amused as they gazed into hers.  
  
"Konbanwa," he greeted in a deep resonant voice, and then she figured that the man must be Japanese. "Nice to see you, Megumi."  
  
Megumi tried to smooth her features into a semblance of polite confusion when what she wanted to do is stamp her foot and tell him to go away. Good manners however, and confusion had made her incapable of unprovoked rudeness, "Gomen, but if we have met, I don't recall it."  
  
"We've definitely met," he assured her dryly. "Many times in fact." He held out a glass to her. "Champagne?"  
  
Champagne is one of the classiest version and counterpart of Sake with Europeans, and they drink them in thin tall glasses. Megumi shook her head, and tried to dismiss the stranger politely. "Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else."  
  
"I'd never mistake you with someone else," he teased, and the man slowly approached to the mild light. "Not with that white ivory orchid, that sets your gown to perfection."  
  
"You have definitely have me confused with someone else, I've never met you bef-----"  
  
"How is Misao, Meg-chan?"  
  
When she heard the nickname, she gaped when she saw the man finally approached towards the light, and in burst of shock and delight, Megumi recognized him. The intense pale blue eyes,  
  
"A-Aoshi-san?!" she gasped, "It's you!"  
  
Aoshi saw the pleasure that lit up her face when she recognized him, and it warmed him with astonishing intensity, softening for a few brief moments the cold, hard streak of cynical indifference that was his norm. "Yes, in the flesh." He replied with a small smile, ".or more accurately, in a tuxedo."  
  
Megumi can't get over the shock that Aoshi, of all people is wearing a tuxedo. But she had to admit, the formal black suit did make him more handsome and his features much arresting, "I still can't believe they made you wear that!" she exclaimed,  
  
"You know the type of people here in this event, if you want to get along with the diplomats and the dignitaries you had to dress up the part." He explained, "It's not much difference with the fit that I usually wear, but this one made me look like a penguin."  
  
Megumi made a small laugh, a real one. And he finds himself somehow relieved that in these past few days, she managed to get back to herself. "Aoshi-san, I think I forgot! Maybe Misao is."  
  
"Don't worry; I met with her and Yutaro downstairs. She is busy with her group of friends, and she who pointed out that she saw you hurrying here the balcony and all alone."  
  
Megumi shuddered, "I just need a little fresh air,"  
  
"Well then," he said casually, "Shall I propose a toast?" "Make the toast, I'm still shocked to think of one," she forced a smile, as she held the glass in her hand. Aoshi raised his glass, and clinked it lightly with hers, "Then I shall toast for the luckiest woman in the world, Takani Megumi."  
  
Megumi's smile faded and her lips quivered, "Oh forbid!" he obviously didn't know what happened to her, and she quickly tried to pass off her reaction with a casual shrug. "What I meant was, I should be luckier-----"  
  
"What could be possibly luckier than escaping from that son of a bitch?"  
  
The remark is so outrageous and so unquestionably loyal that Megumi has twin urges to laugh and cry. He had probably seen Enishi berate her at the veranda before he caught her falling down the steps those few days ago. "You're right" she said instead. And to avoid his gaze she took a quick sip of her champagne; then she hastily changed the subject. "I ran through some of Misao's requirements before I left, there is a small enrichment program school near here in Kyoto that could help her prepare for exams and other lessons. It's not that I'm saying I don't know much, but the school has credentials and it offers summer courses, and study sessions are just for one month with all subjects covered. So by the time she takes schooling in Osaka, she will be much prepared."  
  
"Let's start with an important question," Aoshi interrupted firmly, like a father figure trying to figure out his young daughter, and Megumi felt like a child again; confronting a much older, wiser male. "How are you holding up to this?"  
  
"I'm fine." Frustrated by the quiver from her voice, Megumi took another sip of her champagne. "I'm okay; it's nothing that I can handle."  
  
"I think you knew that man is Yukishiro Enishi, he is an adversary of the Kenshin-gumi, and that includes us. I don't know how he returned so well and alive, and in this event even."  
  
Megumi replied tersely, "I knew who he was,"  
  
"What does he wants from you?"  
  
"It's something---personal."  
  
Aoshi glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the sound emanating from the living room hall. Illuminated by a yellowish light lamp near the exit door was a man with the platinum white hair, who jumped back in the shadows when Aoshi looked into his direction. Even without the tinted glasses and speaking of the devil, he knew pretty well that it's Enishi. His first impulse is to attack the stalking adversary; and his next impulse is to make use of him. Aoshi decided on the second alternative for the moment. With his free hand, he reached out and tipped Megumi's chin. "Listen carefully and don't move."  
  
Her eyes widened in instant alarm.  
  
"Enishi is watching us, waiting for you to be surely alone and harass you. I suggest we give him a moment that will give him things to finally change his mind and leave you alone."  
  
"N-Nani?" Megumi whispered in panic, "Are you crazy?"  
  
"No, I had simply had more experience with negative encounters with stalking people and adversaries. He is not going to leave until he sees you alone, unprotected." Aoshi continued for awhile, from the corner of his eye, he watched Enishi step out of the shadows and lift his head for a clearer view. "You have a choice; you can either let Enishi think that you are a hapless woman without anyone to turn to, or you can let him see me kissing you, which will make him wonder that if I've been your lover all along and no way am I going to let you go."  
  
Megumi recalled the last statement she told Enishi.and the irony that Aoshi has a similar plan in mind! Megumi's thoughts were whirling with alarm and horror and glee, as well as the effects of a drink of champagne in an empty stomach. In a brief moment she hesitated, Aoshi made the decision for her.  
  
"Let's make it convincing." He ordered softly as he set down both of their glasses. His free hand slid around her waist, curving her body into his arms.  
  
It happened too quickly to resist, and then it seemed to happen in slow motion as Megumi felt her legs press into his thighs and her bosom against his chest, followed by the sudden shock of his warm lips covering hers.  
  
He lifted his head a fraction, his blue eyes looking into hers, and she thought he was going to let her go. Instead, his hands shifted, one of them drifting upward over her back, while the other tightened, and he bent his head again. Megumi's heart began to pound erratic, confused beats as his mouth settled firmly on hers, slowly tracing each curve and contour of her lips. His tongue touched the corner of her mouth, and her body jumped in surprise. Instinct ordered her to pull free immediately, but some deeper, more compelling voice rebelled at such unjust reaction to his gallant efforts.  
  
His tender efforts His persuasive efforts  
  
Besides, Enishi must be so surprised that he hasn't seen closely what is happening. So Megumi acted on the side of justice and prudence and slid her hands up his jacket and tentatively, uncertainly kissed him back. The pressure of his mouth increased invitingly as his hand slip up and curved around her nape, his fingers shoving into her hair.  
  
A loud burst of music and thunder of applause inside the living room hall below announced that the festivities are underway and snapped them both back to the present. Megumi pulled away with a self-conscious laugh, and he shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, gazing down at her with his brows drawn into a slight frown. Aoshi looked to see if Enishi was still present and was glad to see that he had apparently got confused and left.  
  
"I-I can't believe we did that," Megumi said nervously, trying to smooth her hair as they walked toward the door and to the stairs. He shot her a sideway glance that was filled of meaning that she didn't understand. "Actually, I wanted to do those months ago," he said reaching out and opening the heavy door for her.  
  
"You did not." Megumi rolled her eyes in smiling disbelief.  
  
"The hell I didn't." he said plainly, his gaze averted by the bustling energy at the living room hall. "I'm just finished with my business with here, and I don't have much plan to stay till the late night festivities, if you're not feeling that well, you can go home now with me."  
  
"What about Misao?"  
  
"I talked with the doctor, Yutaro's guardian. He will see it personally that he will drop her home. It seems the kids are having much fun and I won't spoil it for them."  
  
It's rather odd for Aoshi to set his daughter aside, and for what reason it is.might be something personal. She wondered if it has something to do with the kiss awhile ago. "Will be she okay with that?" she said, referring to Misao, trying to continue the conversation.  
  
"Aside from that Megumi, we will have to talk of important matters. As soon as we get home, change on your much relaxed clothes and meet me at the library." He sounded like he reverts back to his self-assured commanding self, as she have guessed and wondered what he would want to talk to her about. It must be of relevance; after all he did call her Megumi instead of Meg-chan.  
  
*****  
  
It took Megumi several minutes to bath and change herself to the much comfortable clothes she prefer, and when she emerged in the library she was surprised that Aoshi has not change his clothes at all, or didn't bother to greet her. He still wore the "penguin" outfit he irritatingly refers, minus the coat and the black bow by his neck is loosened up as well as his crisp white shirt is unbuttoned to the chest and rolled up to his elbows. He is facing back and is observing outside where he is across the deep carpet to the window. She looked at his back, and he was as handsome and commanding from his behind as he was from the front. Well.not quite. His eyes made the difference. When they are unsmiling, his arrogance is unnerving. The moment he turned and walked toward her she knew something is on his mind. He came to desk and sat at the edge of it. His arms folded across his chest.  
  
"Do you think you're still in love with Yukishiro Enishi?"  
  
If he had said that she had sprouted horns overnight she wouldn't have been more surprised.  
  
"I know you knew about Enishi.but."  
  
"You mentioned him when you are delirious and sick few days ago. Are you in love with him?"  
  
"No! But if I were it's none of your business!"  
  
He smiled, but his blue gaze is unsettling. "I didn't think you were in love with him, but I wanted to hear you say it." He placed his hands firmly on the arm rests in front of her, to where she sat. "Are you contented with your life, Meg-chan?"  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, mystified.  
  
"Do you ever wish for a home, a family and security?"  
  
She was silent, her eyes stunned and wide. "I'm no different from anyone else. I suppose that's what most of us want."  
  
"I'm an impatient and busy man, Meg-chan. And I realize that sometimes I'm not a very kind one. But when I make up my mind about something I like to act as quickly as possible. I think it would be your advantage and to mine if we were married. How does the idea strike you?"  
  
She looked at him as if he had just dropped from outer space, "It strikes me as insane. You are not in love with me and I'm not in love with you." Yet as she spoke those words, she knew that, at least as far her feelings were concerned, they weren't true. She recalled the kiss they have at the balcony at the party few hours ago, and she deeply tells herself now, it's just all an act.  
  
He looked at her, stood up and then looked away. "You're wishing for that old-fashioned relationship between one man and one woman, Megumi. To be honest with you, I think that story book; idealistic love is doomed to extinction. It's better to grow love with someone you respect. One with whom you share mutual reaction. I don't repulse you. I can tell that much."  
  
The cool assumption stung, she glared up at him. "You must know that marriage between two people from different lifestyles, who scarcely know each other, wouldn't work. How could you possibly be considering taking me into your family? You don't know anything about me."  
  
"I know everything about you. If you have forgotten, I came from a clan." "Of Ninjas."  
  
"More accurately, spies." He said dryly. "I know everything that is needed to know Megumi. The tragedy that had befallen you from Aizu after that great fire left you as the only survivor of the Takani family, your father was actually killed by a conspiracy and later you were forced to do opium with these evil men. You are lucky to encounter an understanding man like Kenshin Himura who had rescued you from the clutches of the past. With your excellence in medicine, he refers you to Dr. Gensai and work full-time under him and he lets you live there for free. Life seems very grateful from there, but then.You have an affair with Yukishiro Enishi, although you know too well that he is the enemy; and now repays you by his manipulative nature and using you as his motive for revenge, haunting you from Tokyo to Kyoto like a plague.I also knew of your fear and helplessness when he left you.wondering that he'll do all in his will to make you look like a distrusting woman in front of me and the Kenshingumi."  
  
He paused briefly, "I also know.that how he used you, in a way.he even got you pregnant for his own twisted scheme."  
  
Megumi wished she could die. The bastard! The fact he is the leader of the oniwabanshus, a clan of ninjas and spies means he could do anything within his power to gather and access other people's information and lay bare every private aspect of her life. He might even have pressed Okon to confess it, since she is after all the only person in the household Megumi confided. And it left her feeling raw, scrutinized and stripped naked with all the skeletons of her past out to see. She felt like she's in the presence with Enishi.  
  
"That is the most malicious thing anyone has ever done to me in my whole life! How dare you pry in my background? You had no right!" Tears of embarrassment and humiliation ran down her cheeks. "You have no right to drag my life out for ridicule!" She was crying and sobs were shaking her voice.  
  
"That was the last thing on my mind, Megumi. I am not certainly ridiculing your life. You have conducted yourself admirably. All I learned about you convinced me more than ever that I wanted you for my wife."  
  
She was a bit ajar with those words, Okon had placed it very well.Aoshi is NOT looking for a relationship, and all he wants is a private tutor for his little girl so it won't involve personal feelings. He sat in the chair in front of her, quietly observing her as he leans to her closely as he gently spoke placing his palms over hers, "Megumi, you are a beautiful, intelligent woman with good taste and charming manners. You are a good influence on Misao. I believe you will be an asset to my home, and in return I'm prepared to take care of you, be a faithful husband and an attentive father. That seems to me to be a sound basis for a happy and lasting marriage."  
  
"I can't believe you! Why? Why do you want to do.this? Don't tell me it's out of pity!"  
  
"It's not, and that's a fair question. I want Misao to have an Okaasan. I want a home to come back to with more than a houseful of loyal aids in it. I want a woman in my home to make love to and sons I can watch grow into men and to carry my name."  
  
"Then why don't you marry the Okashira of the Sanada clan? It's what your sensei wants."  
  
"I don't happen to like Misanagi. As many hours as I will spend with my wife, I want one that I at least like."  
  
"Am I to take that as a compliment?"  
  
"That is the way I meant it." Warmth ran over her skin, for he gave his words a sensual meaning.  
  
"I don't expect you to give me your answer right this minute, Meg-chan. Think about it." Then abruptly he moved and gathered her into his arms. His mouth had found hers before she could turn her head. It was not merely like the staged kiss in the balcony, nor was it like a light kiss of affection. He kissed her as though she were a woman with whom he would share more intimate caresses. She opened her lips to his as the intimacy of the kiss increased and felt a strange helplessness in her limbs, as if his sensuous mouth is absorbing her.  
  
"We'll be good together, Meg-chan. It's a start." The muttered words were barely coherent, thickly groaned in her ear as he kissed the warm curve of her neck.  
  
"I think you'd better go." The strangled voice sounded miles from her ears.  
  
He cupped a hand behind her head and pressed hard fingers under her long hair and drew her flushed face onto his shoulder. "It was unfair of me to spring this on you now. I should have waited when you are well-rested. Rest now and I'll come back much later this evening." He stroked a strand of hair behind her ear and he stood up. When he left, she ran the tip of her tongue around the velvety inner side of her lips as his had done minutes before and her heart gave a disturbing throb. Oh god! Why did she suddenly feel like she was in the ocean swimming against the tide?  
  
(Translation: Okaasan = mother) 


	7. Conflicts of reasons and feelings

Part 7: Conflicts of reasons and feelings  
  
  
  
Aoshi's parting kiss left Megumi prey to a thousand conflicting emotions. At first she felt outrage that he would even suggest a marriage for convenience. And yet, the burning memory of his embrace sent delicious tremors through her body. Also, she found herself weighing the pain and disillusionment of the last few months, and loneliness she had known for most of her life, against the possibility of luxurious content as his belief in love. How could such a marriage work?  
  
Aoshi came very much later and changed to his oniwabanshu attire that evening; he went to her room and stood beside her, larger than life, looking deeply into her eyes.  
  
"Well?"  
  
The single word of inquiry exploded in Megumi's brain and for a moment she could not speak. Her well-rehearsed words died out of her throat as a wave of longing, almost violent in its intensity, took their place. In a barely audible whisper, she heard herself telling Aoshi that she would be his wife.  
  
"You won't regret this decision, Megumi. I know you're dreaming of a prince on a white charger who will sweep you away to his castle where there will be no more heart aches, no more problems. Life isn't like that, Megumi-sama as you well know." he called her as if she is an important priceless possession. "If there were no heart aches, how should we know when we are happy?"  
  
His words stayed with her for long time after he left her.  
  
*****  
  
Megumi sat beside Aoshi in his private carriage, shocked that the past week had flown almost as fast as the landscape was flying fast now. Later today they would be married in a temple near a town in Osaka, Yokkaichi.  
  
"What will your sensei would say about.us?" she asked as the carriage moved on near the Kyoto train station. It was a subject they never discussed. Aoshi answered her question openly and frankly. "I informed him this morning and told him. He is upset. But remember this, Megumi. His opinion or anyone else's means nothing to me. I am my own person. I make my own decision, I please myself."  
  
Megumi leaned back in the seat drew in a deep breath. "Are you always so frank?"  
  
"Not always, but I will be with you. I want no secrets between us."  
  
They talked off and on after that, but impersonally, about the land, the birds, the flowers. "Osaka is a very thriving city and one of Japan's biggest." Aoshi said, "It's the center for trading and commerce, having opened its door from outside world influence such as the Dutch and the British. Misao spent three years there, so I'm not surprised why she is extremely fascinated with the western lifestyle. It's a whole new world there where east meet west."  
  
Megumi didn't wonder that people wanted to retire to this busy, lively and commercially-oriented city. But how had she become blessed with the possibility of living here most of her life? She looked at him with a smile in her eyes and wondered fleetingly when the beautiful carriage she was riding in was going to turn back into a pumpkin. A guard tipped his hat as their carriage has made its way near to the entrance of the train station. Aoshi went down the steps in his regal broad pale-beige coat, with his usual commanding and graceful confidence he held out his hand for Megumi. The moment she set her foot in the station, she thought its going to be a plain ride along with the passengers. But she was surprised, that he had one whole private section all for the two of them.  
  
"Is this section really yours? Alone?" He met her tormented glance with puzzlement before he smiled, "Not alone of course. There is someone who will run this train, and there are a lot of passengers as well in other sections, although it's for public use. Are you afraid of the train moving?" He searched her face.  
  
Megumi is not fearful about the short road travel, but she was beginning to grasp the reality of Shinomori Aoshi's wealth and connections. How would she bridge the gap from her world to his? How could she possibly stand beside this man as his wife?  
  
"Aoshi!!" She looked at him now with a look that blended with confusion and fear. "Let's talk about this. I'm not sure.I don't fit in! I've not been much anywhere or know anything that would make me interesting to your people. I've no experience.no. I mean no training. I've never even knew any..martial arts technique!"  
  
"Martial arts technique?" He placed his arm around her and his voice was sharp in her ear. "Who in the hell cares about martial arts technique? You're wrong about yourself, Megumi. You'd be an asset to any man. You are you and that's a part of your charm. My life isn't as adventurous as you possibly think it is. I have these things because my responsibility makes it necessary, not because I'm a show-off."  
  
Megumi said nothing for a long moment, then turned tiredly and rested her forehead against his arm. "If this doesn't work out Aoshi, or if you meet someone, fall in love, and want to marry, this.arrangement doesn't last forever." Her voice was muffled and she felt stupidly close to tears.  
  
"And if you should meet someone, you'll tell me? I'm hoping we'll be able to talk to each other about everything, Megumi." He held her and swayed softly. In his arms, she felt safe. Her answer was almost breathless. "I will. I promise I will."  
  
Their eyes met. Hers were bright with tears, his icy blue eyes became warm and lucid, gently questioning. It seemed both an end and a beginning for them. Aoshi's kiss was quick and firm. He raised his hand and smiled. His voice, when he spoke, was husky.  
  
"I think that bears repeating."  
  
His face came to hers and he kissed her longer and harder. The first time her lips had been compressed with surprise, but now they are soft and unyielding. Her palms rested on his chest before moving around to his back and she hugged him to her. He raised his head. They looked into each other's eyes and exchanged another smile. She was happy, Oh, she was happy! Back in the secret recesses of her mind, though, she knew it wouldn't last. It was too beautiful. When it ended she would adjust.She always had.  
  
*****  
  
The sun shone warmly on Megumi's wedding day, its brilliance touching everything including the pearls clipped on her ears and the magnificent pearl and diamond hair comb clip crafted with the rarest white jade, left by Aoshi moments before they left the inn. Set on her velvety black hair, it was fixed gracefully upwards like a small crown in a traditional female Japanese hairstyle. It adds to her allure, to her mystery. She looked at the stone steps from to the altar, and some portions are decked by her favorite white orchids, in the almost vast and empty temple. Aoshi had taken care of everything. All Megumi had to do was sign her name to the marriage certificate. The ceremony itself was simple and the monk spoke his words solemnly.  
  
It all seemed so unreal to Megumi, like a princess going to the ball. But this is no ball, she quickly reminded herself---it was her wedding day! This day she was joining her life to that of a rich, handsome, storybook prince. Would she wake up to find herself back in Aizu with only a life filled with loneliness stretching out before her?  
  
At the end of the ceremony Aoshi bent down and brushed her cold lips with his, and took her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. Suddenly, she was terrified, thinking about the enormity of the step she had taken. But Aoshi tightened his hold on her and led her out of the temple, to the inn where they would spend their brief honeymoon.  
  
"Well, Shinomori Megumi?" Aoshi said when they were alone in the room.  
  
Megumi tried to remain calm. "Well, Shinomori Aoshi?" The small laugh she tried refused to come out convincingly. Soundlessly he moved to put his hands on her shoulders. Her heart gave a choking, little thump and she raised a tremulous gaze to his face.  
  
"You were very beautiful today. No man could have been more proud of his bride than I was."  
  
Her lashes dropped and her cheeks felt warm. "Blushes, Megumi? I believe you're genuinely without vanity." His brows were raised in amusement. "I suspect you were have unexpected depths, Megumi. And before many weeks have passed I will have explored every single one of them."  
  
She stood there, silently watching him. He took her hand and led her to the bedroom door.  
  
"The bath is all yours. I'll be waiting for you."  
  
While she ran her hot bath and undressed, she wondered if there are any women in Aoshi's life and how he often he would expect to make love to her. Her sexual experience was limited and had only left her feeling frustrated and used. She gave it to Enishi, when she was blinded by his manipulative nature. Would Aoshi be sweeter to her? What did he expect of her? She felt nervous and full of doubts. When she walked back into the bedroom, Aoshi lay on the bed wearing only a robe, his hands behind his head, a single sheet pulled up to his chest. He eyed her without moving.  
  
Her eyes flickered over him and hurried away. A wild sweet enchantment rippled through her veins and wordlessly she went to him, and put her hand over his. He moved slightly and made room for her to lie beside him.  
  
"Megumi." When he said her name it was a caress. He ran his hand up and down her arm. Finally he said, "I want you to want me, Megumi. Anything else leaves me cold. I won't insist if you're not in the mood."  
  
She almost wanted to cry. The knowledge that he wasn't trying to rush her into fulfilling an obligation brought a welling of love, and tremulous joy. No words could come so she reached out a hand and blew off the beside lamp and slipped into the sheets beside him. His arms were waiting for her and pulled her trembling body against his. They lay quietly for a long while, until her trembling ceased. Then he began to stroke her, his hands uncovering her body slowly, achingly, until she lay naked, soft and warm beside him.  
  
"My Megumi.Boku no amai Megumi-koi."  
  
He leaned over her, his breath warm and moist, his face blurred in the soft light, He touched the tip of her tongue delicately against her mouth. They kissed hungrily, and explosive desire opened between them.  
  
"Do you want me?" The muttered words were barely coherent, thickly groaned into her ear.  
  
"Aoshi, Aoshi.I."  
  
He seemed to understand. With a swift look into her face he took her mouth again. He kissed her as openly and intimately as a man would kiss a woman. She arched against him, her hands moving over the smooth slender muscles of his bare back, slowly disrobing him. She had never felt anything like the sensual enjoyment she was feeling now. She moved against him, clutching at his back while he pressed into her. She wrenched upward and tensed, wanting to know and have every little bit of him. His weight pressed her slimness into the mattress, and her arms tightened about him as they rode out the storm.  
  
When it was over he lay beside her and muttered, "Hai, hai." As if she had said something. She sighed in contentment. In the soft cocoon of the cot her doubts and fears had dissolved, and her body drowsed, luxuriating in this new and wondrous sensation. He looked down at the pale luminous oval of her face.  
  
"Your eyes have lights in the dark. Did you know that?"  
  
She shook her head and raised a hand to his cheek. "Aoshi, I'm not very experienced. I've done this." she shuddered, when she recalled briefly of her torrid encounters with Enishi. "I've done this.only a very few times."  
  
He was still for a long moment. Then he pulled her close and held her for a long time. He whispered softly in her ear as she ran her hands over his back. "You were wonderful. But my pleasure is greater when I give you pleasure. Did you enjoy it?"  
  
"H-Hai!" she framed his face with her hands and reached for his lips. This moment was hers; nothing or no one could take that away from her.  
  
"Go to sleep now, Megumi. The sweetest sleep in the world comes now."  
  
She found that it did. She fell asleep almost immediately, but all night she was subconsciously aware of the warm, male body pressed to her own, the heavy weight of the arm across her body and the hand that cupped her breast. It was a wonderful way to sleep. That honeymoon was right out of a romantic novel. Although it only lasted four days and four wonderful, glorious nights, it was the kind of honeymoon that comes at the end of the story when love triumphs and the couple walk off into the sunset.  
  
By the time they left Yokkaichi, Megumi knew beyond a doubt that she had fallen utterly and completely in love with Aoshi. The knowledge filled her with joy but also with sadness, because she was fully aware that Aoshi didn't love her in the same romantic way. Would she be able to bear that reality?  
  
(Translation: Boku no amai = my sweet., koi= short of koishii/koibito( which means darling/sweetheart in a serious relationship) 


	8. Notions of True Love

Part 8: Notion of True Love?  
  
  
  
They proceed to Osaka, the couple stopped to pay a visit to Aoshi's sensei, Okina at a secluded dojo near the mountains. When they reached the dojo's entrance they were met by a matronly old woman dressed in a black kimono. Aoshi was hugged like a favorite son and he showed his respect by bowing low and introduced Megumi.  
  
"This is Matsuki-san, she has been with my sensei for many years and ever since they moved here in Osaka. They are about the same age." He explained this to Megumi, and then spoke more slowly to the woman. "Is Okina-sensei well, Matsuki?"  
  
She made a gesture with her hands. "Hai. But he is meditating in his room. Take your bride to the room adjacent to the dojo and rest. I will tell your sensei later that you have brought your new tsuma to him. Do not be surprised if he is angry." The old woman laughed. "But not as angry as Moriya Misanagi, ne?"  
  
Matsuki's frankness caused questions to swirl through Megumi's mind. How was she going to face this hostile goroujin? Would she feel once again, like the unwanted child thrust into a foster home? Pride surfaced. No, by damn! If his sensei didn't like her, tough!  
  
"Don't worry," Aoshi said later on, as he led her to Okina's room. "He's disappointed that I didn't marry Misanagi, who is an Okashira of the Sanada clan who happens to drop by the dojo every now and then. But when he gets to know you it will be all right. He gives in where I'm concerned. You'll see."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
But her uneasiness grew as they walked through the steps, leading inside to corridors before they finally went to a room. What thoughts are going through his head, she wondered? How was she going to bear up the strain of living with him, knowing he only liked her and was more than satisfied with their sexual relationship, but didn't love her? Would the decision she made to marry him demand more of her than she would be able to bear?  
  
Aoshi puts his hand at the wide sliding screen door. "Just be yourself. You look beautiful," he murmured.  
  
They walked in the cool, quiet room. At first Megumi thought it was empty because the old man dressed in neutral colors sitting down a cushion blended with his surroundings. With her hand firmly clasped in his, Aoshi led her forward, and then bent down in one knee to the floor as a sign of respect of the man who became his mentor. His blue gaze, shifted to Okina's bleary look, like he was rudely disturbed from his daily ritual. Okina looks friendly, and quite strong for his age, only there is something unsettling the way he gazes at them. Megumi noticed that he has suffered a head injury, his head bound tightly with a gauze and one eye seems bleaker. Then she recalled Okon's tale about the fatal showdown the two once had that nearly cost the old man's life. It's a reunion between two masters, and yet there is a gap still between them that remains best unspoken.  
  
Aoshi rose to his feet, pressing her hand. "Here she is, Okina-sensei. I told you she was beautiful." His voice was soft, almost reverent. Okina's dark bright eyes looked steadily at Megumi as she looked steadily back. Instinct told her this man would look with contempt on any one who stood meekly, passively, under his stare. She pulled her hand from Aoshi's and made a low bow to the man who sat so stoically.  
  
"I'm glad to meet you, Okina-san." It seemed to Megumi that she bowed low for ages before the goroujin acknowledge it with a terse nod.  
  
"Sit down." He was still looking at Megumi and his words were more of a command than an invitation. Megumi walked back a few steps to an identical soft floor cushion, but before she kneeled down the man looked at Aoshi. "Leave us." His blue eyes told her he wouldn't go if he wanted her to stay. He gave Okina a firm gaze, and folds his arms across his chest. The two men hardly communicate by words and a tension seems to rise, and their thoughts are obvious with their actions. Megumi smiled at him.  
  
"I think your sensei and I should get to know one another on an in-law to in-law basis, ne koibito. Do you mind?" She kneeled down the cushion; her legs folded neatly and rested comfortably reaching the floor.  
  
"Not if that's what you want, koishii." He bent over and dropped a kiss to her forehead and stroked her hair, as if to make the old man who was watching twitch. And he walked away opening the other side which is the porch, opening a refreshing view of a small Japanese garden. When Aoshi is far from ear shot, she looked into the old man's eyes and smiled.  
  
Okina came directly to the point, "Takani Megumi, I want Aoshi to marry someone that came from a fighting clan." The words are firmly and calmly spoken.  
  
"I know, Aoshi told me."  
  
"Typical Japanese women do not strive for their own strength and protection, they needed to be watched over and taken care of. He has to marry someone who is head strong and can understand what great responsibility he has, and keep up with it and knowing why. Being submissive is a sign of great deal of weakness, and I'm afraid, is common to the regular people and is bound to tradition how typical Japanese women are raised."  
  
Megumi looked at him quietly. "That is true. However submissiveness means different things to different people. To me it means yielding to authority, and for this world to survive we must have authority. To others it may mean admitting to being inferior, being humble, meek, submitting oneself to dominance without any effort to control one's destiny. The latter meaning does not apply to me, Okina-san." Okina's face gave no inking of what he was thinking. The dark eyes continued to look at her. He was a true sensei worth to be Aoshi's mentor, Megumi decided.  
  
He repeatedly stroked his white beard. Observing her more, "Do you love Aoshi or did you marry him because of his connections?"  
  
The question caught Megumi unaware and she sat silently for a moment before she spoke. The mood in the room starts to be increasingly tense and disturbingly quiet, so unlike the peaceful garden just outside the room. "Okina-san, I will tell you frankly that I married him because I yearned for someone of my own, a kazoku. Since the wedding, however, I have come to love him very much. He is the man I dreamed about when I was a child---- protective, dependable and self-assured. The fact that holds an important post for leading this clan and connections just happens to be an added factor and can be very well being more of a hindrance to my happiness than a benefit."  
  
"I want him to be happy. He never tells me much about his personal affairs but he told me that he loves you. I'll have to accept you."  
  
"Arigato gozaimasu, Okina-san. I'll try not to disappoint you. I want Aoshi to be happy, too. I hope that can be a basis for a friendship between us."  
  
"We will have some tea then," The old man took a small silver bell from his pocket and in a few minutes a female servant came in carrying a set of tea into the room  
  
When Aoshi returned, they were drinking tea and chatting easily. He came to reach her and reached for her hand. She looked up at him with all the love in her heart in her eyes, forgetting, momentarily, that his sensei is watching. She got to her feet and he pulled her close to him. Snapping dark eyes, undimmed despite the advancing years, watched them intently.  
  
"I will send for you when the meal is ready," he said to Megumi, dismissing her briskly. "Aoshi and I have much to talk about."  
  
Aoshi squeezed her hand then she went to the door.  
  
"I am an old man and have not long wait for you to settle down, I want to see you have a family of your own." The words reached Megumi as she left the room and her lips lifted into a grin. She had quite liked the wise sensei, and the interview had gone much better than she had hoped, and there was lightness to her step as she went through the corridors and to the adjoining section of the dojo to her room she would share with Aoshi.  
  
At her few steps near the room she came to an abrupt halt. She felt like a dagger has just zinged past her head and that it hits precisely to the room's sliding screen. Alarmed with the sudden attack, Megumi gasped in surprise and turned around and saw a woman in a tight black outfit and skirt she presumed was a ninja; was glaring at her with the same snapping look in the eyes like Okina's. She looks like she is in her late teens to her early 20's, and is wearing both sides of her brown hair in pig tails in an effort to keep away from her face. The way she glared at her, made Megumi took a step backward, the woman's hatred was so obvious.  
  
This must be Moriya Misanagi, she realized. The okashira of the Sanada clan. She looks surprisingly young for her position, and look more she can pass as Aoshi's younger sister rather than as his arranged bride. Megumi felt sorry for her, but the pity left as soon as the woman spoke.  
  
"You'll never be accepted. A nobody from nowhere! He only married you because he was still furious with Master Okina--- who is trying to bring us together for the possible better future of our clans! He'll understand that soon enough and nothing will be changed between us." The words were said with such contempt that a chill crept over Megumi's skin.  
  
"Sou desu ka?" Anger warmed her.  
  
"I have known Aoshi long before you even do, and our tribes have come to an agreement so I can take my place beside him as his wife."  
  
"An agreement?" Megumi looked her up and down insolently. "You mean even then no one thought you'd be able find a husband on your own with your status?" She stepped turned her back and went into her room, closed the door, and leaned against it. She was breathless with anger but rather proud that her parting shot had rendered Misanagi speechless.  
  
She took deep breaths to calm herself and began to dress for dinner. By the time Aoshi came to the room she was already calm. He looked her up and down and smiled.  
  
"Okina-sensei is not quite so sure I made a disastrous mistake as he first thought. You must have held your own with him."  
  
"I tried. He's naturally concerned for your welfare. I can't fault him for that."  
  
She caught the sparkle in his silent pale blue eyes. Happiness engulfed her like a tidal wave and washed Misanagi's words from her mind. She was actually beginning to think of herself as his wife, his love. Careful, she cautioned. This was all so new and heady she must not forget that he once spite the "old-fashioned" relationship between one man and one woman.  
  
"Don't let Misanagi get under your skin." He was coming toward her with the box containing the bejeweled white jade comb hair clip she had worn at the wedding. "She revived connections with the Oniwabanshus and will be around a lot. You might as well get used to her."  
  
Megumi went slightly numb on hearing this news, but managed a faint smile. Aoshi gently and effortlessly tried to fix her hair secured with the comb clip from his hands. "This was gift given to the family of Okina-sensei ever since he was a young boy; tradition has it that each predecessor to the oniwabanshu will have this as a gift to his bride. He never did get married and he was about to be a great leader, but he declines it and offered me instead to fill in the position. I of course inherited the treasure, but I never minded about it, since marriage was then the least thing on my mind." He said, admiring her silently and pleased with himself as he saw the finished effect in Megumi's hair. It made her look much livelier. "But so to speak, time flies and people change. I want him to see you wear this tonight."  
  
"Aoshi, no! He might resent-------"  
  
"No, he won't. He knows we are married. The precious heirloom goes to my bride." His mouth curved at one corner. "As far as Okina-sensei is concerned we are married forever. He does not believe in annulment or separation."  
  
Megumi had gone white, "But, you said that.."  
  
"Zannen datta ka hontoi, Megumi?"  
  
"Sorry? About what?" She was dumbfounded, why were they quarreling?  
  
"About marrying me?" He was looking at her as if he seemed to believe that she was deceiving him in some way.  
  
"No!"  
  
Now was not the time to tell him that she was frightened because he didn't believe in romantic love. And terrified that he was having an affair with Misanagi. She couldn't tell him anything. I still don't know him, she whispered soundlessly to herself when he turned away from her to go into the adjoining bathroom.  
  
She was standing getting herself from fresh night air at the porch when he came back into the room. He heard him rummaging about in his closet, and then felt his presence beside her.  
  
"It'll take me forever----can you put these for me?" He held out the cuffs of the sleeves of his clothes, a layer of deep purple and black, his uniform to indicate his status in the Oniwabanshu. When she looked up, all traces of irritation were gone from his face. She smiled at him and with fumbling fingers fixed the cuffs of his sleeves. When she finished, he leaned toward her and kissed her very lightly on the nose.  
  
"It's getting to be a habit." He said.  
  
"What is?"  
  
"Wanting to kiss you." He said lightly, and almost smiling. And it was hard to keep from communicating all the love she wanted to give him. She covered her confusion with a light laugh and twisted away from him.  
  
*****  
  
They entered the dining room with her hand tucked firmly in the crook of his arm. Aoshi's master was seated at the table and next to him stood Misanagi. There was no mistaking the hostility in her eyes.  
  
Aoshi's arm slid around her, possessively, and urged her toward the two people.  
  
"Megumi, I want you to meet Moriya Misanagi of Sanada clan."  
  
Megumi forced her stiff lips to smile and nodded to the woman.  
  
"Misanagi, my wife, Megumi."  
  
The pale lips barely moved, "Oneesan."  
  
Aoshi bowed lightly to Okina and on impulse Megumi did the same. The old man looked long and hard at the white jade clip crowned on Megumi's hair before he smiled. "The hair ornament becomes you. Did Aoshi tell you that it is passed from generations to the would be oni's leader's bride?"  
  
"Yes he did, Okina-san. And I was proud to wear it on mine."  
  
It was not as difficult a meal to get through as Megumi had anticipated. Aoshi made sure she was included in the conversation and as time went on and Misanagi remained silent, it became easier.  
  
Okina left them as soon as dinner was finished. Aoshi assists him to his room and Megumi, not wanting to remain alone with Misanagi, walked out into the large training hall and then went straight to her room.  
  
Her honeymoon was almost over. Tomorrow they would be heading back to Kyoto. She had almost succeeded in banishing the doubt that's he was incapable of filling the position demanded as Aoshi's wife. The last four days had been the most wonderful days of her life and anything that could happen to her in the future would pale in comparison.  
  
She was standing beside the screen door when she heard Aoshi's voice from the other side of the dojo from another area of the porch.  
  
"That's nonsense, Misanagi. You must leave." His voice was cold and biting in the way it could be when he was running out of patience  
  
"But why did you do it, Aoshi? Why did you marry that."  
  
"I don't have to justify my actions to you. I never gave you any reason to believe I'd marry you."  
  
"I know you Aoshi, are you in love with her?"  
  
There was the briefest of hesitations, then, "That need not concern you. Our relationship has not changed, Misanagi. Megumi will not interfere."  
  
"I don't want her to know." The tone in Misanagi's voice quivered.  
  
"She won't know unless you tell her. I didn't know what you're worrying about. I'll still to look after you, you know that. But you must adjust to this new situation."  
  
"I hate her!" This was hissed with fiery venom.  
  
There is arrogance in Aoshi's voice, "Well, I don't."  
  
"So you don't love her? Tell me."  
  
Patiently in a stiff demeanor, Aoshi said "I don't think that need concern us, Misanagi."  
  
The words trailed away. They were moving into the next section of the dojo.  
  
The word "us" echoed in Megumi's brain, as, white-faced and sick at heart, she turned and went to the bathroom. There the door closed behind her, she took great sobbing breaths while she fought for control. It was quite obvious that something is going on between Aoshi and Misanagi. She wanted so desperately to believe that he would come to love her as she loved him. Now she feared that he never intended to be a faithful husband at all. She stared at her white face in the mirror. You are gullible, dumb.broad, Takani Megumi! Does history has to repeat itself painfully all over again? Tell him to bug off, you don't need him. Her eyes filled again, What if she was wrong? Either way she couldn't let him go.  
  
Later, when she had gone to bed, Aoshi came into the room. "What's the matter, Megumi?" He sat down beside her, "Do you have a headache?"  
  
She nodded and pressed her hands to her temples. She wanted to scream.liar! Instead she gritted her teeth and whispered almost inaudibly, "Let me sleep. I'll be alright in the morning."  
  
"Sure. Go to sleep."  
  
Aoshi got up, changed clothes and came back to lie next to her, putting his arm around her. She felt his kiss on her shoulder before he settled back and was almost instantly asleep, his breathing coming gently against her back.  
  
(Translations: sou desu ka= is that so? Oneesan= "lady" older sister, woman.an honorary term, kazoku=family, goroujin= elder, tsuma= wife, koibito and koishii= darling or sweetheart in those who are in serious relationships. Zannen datta ka hontoi= are you sorry already) 


	9. Questionable devotion

Part 9: Questionable devotion  
  
  
  
The trip back to Kyoto the next morning was worse than she had expected. To her dismay, Misanagi had come along, having some important business to take care with Aoshi.  
  
When they arrived at the villa, Megumi went straight up to her room she'd occupy with Aoshi. She unpacked and then picked up the ornate wooden box holding the precious white jade clip. She couldn't resist opening the box and looking at them. They were so beautiful, but not for her. She snapped the box shut and placed it on the stand beside the bed. With nothing to do she paced the room, stood beside the window, and looked down on the courtyard. Her nerves were strung as tight as a bow string.  
  
The situation was unbearable. She finally made a decision. She would tell Aoshi soon enough that their marriage was a mistake and she wished to terminate it. She was sitting beside the window when Aoshi came into the room. He looked at her like a stranger, his face is expressionless and his eyes are cold as ice.  
  
"There's someone here to see you, he said he comes in peace. You know who I'm referring to."  
  
For a moment she was speechless. Enishi! His persistence took him to the point that he even had present himself to the oniwabanshu's stronghold! She nearly has forgotten all about him, ever since the day of Aoshi's proposal. "Enishi? Yukishiro Enishi? B-but what would he be doing here?" she asked through stiff lips.  
  
"How in the hell do I know? Go on down and see." She went to the door, but his next words stop her. "He did really want something important from you, didn't he?"  
  
She turned to look at him, opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and went out the door. Her mind was spinning wildly. What would Enishi possibly want right now? Aoshi know her former relationship on the formidable enemy, and Enishi knew that his cover was blown and there is nothing else left to hide to blackmail her. It sends a chill on her spine, that this man would be into another scheming plot.and he wouldn't stop.  
  
She descended the steps and overheard voices coming from the library. It was Enishi talking to Misanagi. She stood at the door and watched them for a moment. Enishi is putting on his deceiving casual charm for Misanagi, and the okashira was clearly looking impressed. How could she have blindly fall in love before to this manipulative, conceited man?  
  
She noticed that he is wearing a new set of glasses on, he tipped on it lightly as he saw her; giving her brief glimpse of those cold unwavering green eyes. "Megumi, how nice it is to see you again."  
  
"Enishi."  
  
Misanagi threw her a vicious look and left the room.  
  
Enishi came to her and took her hand before she could step away from him. He took it tightly, pressing it hard and she flinched as it hurts her, "I've missed you Megumi, I don't realized how much you meant while you are away." he look down on her and his mouth twisted cruelly with a cold smile.  
  
Megumi jerked her hand from his and moved a few feet away from him. "Stop it! I know all your tricks, Enishi. I married now, but I presumed you already knew that's why you have the guts to come here."  
  
He was quiet for a long moment, and then looked at her arrogantly. "I'll have to admit you are smarter than I gave you credit for, Megumi. You are true to your threat. You did get married to Shinomori Aoshi, and you did it convincingly as you want everyone to believe."  
  
"That's not true! I do really care for him!"  
  
"Let's face it, koishii." her blood begins to boil as he referred her as his lover, "Your motives to me are very crystal clear, you married Aoshi because you need security knowing well that the man is a good fighter and leader to that.to get away from me. But I think it's fair enough for him though."  
  
She was perplexed, and her silence means she reluctantly wants him to explain. His green eyes lit up with some sardonic amusement. "Did you believe he married you for the reason he loves you? Aoshi is not foolish to give in easily to a woman's charm! He is using you as well as you use him."  
  
Megumi recalled the conversation that Aoshi and Misanagi have secretly back in Osaka. She tried to deluge the thought, "No." she said firmly, gritting her teeth. "I'm afraid that's not it, Enishi." At least if he ever was, he never used me like you did, she swore silently.  
  
"Then what is? Aoshi and Okina have a strained relationship. Have you ever wondered why the old man retires to Osaka and he, in Kyoto? The oniwabanshu is divided. He wants him to marry someone his choice, but what did he do? He rebels against him as always, that's why he married you instead."  
  
Every word is a painful drop and might be as well the presumption she had in mind. She didn't have to wonder how Enishi can come with a conclusion; he is an intelligent, resourceful and dangerous man.  
  
"You might as well know, I never forget a promise. I'll come to get you. Even if that means making you look foolish and a traitorous spy in front of everybody else"  
  
"Aoshi wouldn't believe you! He already knows what you are going to do, and there is no way you can convince him!"  
  
"Tsk, it doesn't matter if he were to believe me or not. Misanagi would. I can convince her and spread it to the clan. Their tribes, their councils would believe it. His reputation and yours would be a vile nasty scandal all over in connections in Osaka and Kyoto. He'll wish he'd never set eyes on you and with the shame brought to his clan, he will be removed to his position. He might be grooming his young adoptive daughter to be his successor.but what could a nine year old do?"  
  
"You are so stubborn, utmost vile, and this corrupt". This is Enishi's plan, and this might be his revenge. In pure disgust, her fists clenched and shaking she murmured, "Leave Misao out of this, the young girl has done nothing wrong!"  
  
"Now you know. At least what I can be capable of. So, what would be for the start Megumi?"  
  
Megumi was shaken, heartsick; not because of the threat but for the fear that there is truth in Enishi's words. He is cold calculating and dangerous man, and he had his sources and influences to charm anything to bend to his will.  
  
"I'll get my purse, and give you a check." She said wearily, hearing the defeat in her own voice. At least momentarily, the money she will be giving to him will stall him for awhile. It might be bribery, but she knows Enishi can't turn down an offer. He will find some ways to use it. She ran upstairs and was soon back with the purse. She sat down at the desk, wrote him a check, and handed it to him.  
  
"This will be a start of a beautiful friendship," he said conceitedly, as he snatched it from her hands as soon as she finished signing her signature in it. His eyes seemed to smile as his gaze fixed to the number of digits written in the check. He placed it casually in his cloak and turned around, marking his leave. "You'll see me again Megumi, never doubt that. In turn keep up with the regular donations or."  
  
"You won't get another yen from me."  
  
He glanced over his shoulder, "No not from you, koishii.From your husband. Use him while you still can, it won't be that long and I'll see you soon."  
  
She waited until his steps; a fading sound of the staccato beat that echoes out of the vast corridor was heard no more. When she made sure he was gone, he ran up the stairs, closed the door and rested against the paneling, too stricken to be aware of her surroundings. She took deep breaths and awareness came rushing back. Aoshi would want some answers. She had to think. She went to the bathroom and bathed her face with a wet cloth, retouched her make-up and returned to the bedroom to see Aoshi coming in the door, her purse in his hand.  
  
"You left this on the desk."  
  
"Domo." She took the purse from him, placed it on the bureau, and picked up her hairbrush.  
  
"Megumi!!"  
  
His voice was loud, harsh and cut across the room like a whip. She stared at him silently. His blue eyes are rigid, cold and sharp like shards of ice. "Were you so upset to see him go that you ran up here and hide?"  
  
"I was glad to see him go, Aoshi. I never wanted to see him again."  
  
"Don't lie." There was something strange in his voice. Accusation? He came close to her and her eyes were level with his chin. "Tell me, what is that he wants from you now, Meg-chan?"  
  
Suddenly she was tired of it all. Exhausted. Tired of being manipulated by Enishi, pushed by Misanagi, by.him! She felt as if someone had stuck a knife in her and was slowly twisting it.  
  
"I don't want to tell you!" The words burst from her angrily. An interminable silence filled the room. She knew that the fragile hope she had secretly nourished that perhaps he might give up Misanagi and come to love her had just vanished.  
  
"Well. At least we're being honest."  
  
That couldn't be hurt in his voice. She glanced up to see a nerve pulsing beside his eye. Wearily she turned from him. She wanted to go home. Home? Where was that? Her eyes filled with tears and overflowed down on her cheeks.  
  
"Do you mind if I lie down for awhile?"  
  
"Go ahead, I won't stop you."  
  
The door closed behind him and she was alone. It was a relief; she could cry now. There was no one to see her. She lay down the bed and cried herself to sleep.  
  
She awakened during the night and lay staring into the darkness. She was alone. How strange, she mused, that after sleeping beside Aoshi for such a short time she could feel so alone without him beside her. It had not taken him long to return, and acceded to his sensei's wishes, she thought bitterly and tears once again began to slide down her cheeks.  
  
*****  
  
All through the next day, Aoshi was gone with Misanagi to some parts in Kyoto. Megumi devoted the day to Misao. She and Misao ate alone in the evening as Aoshi hadn't returned even for dinner.  
  
It was already late at night, and she was already in bed, when the door opened and the lights were put on, blinding her momentarily. She sat up, clutching the bedclothes to her. Aoshi closed the door and came to stand in the middle of the room. His face was completely colorless and the small pulse beside his eyes was throbbing in away she had seen before when he was upset.  
  
She drew in a deep, quivering breath. "What is it, Aoshi?"  
  
When he didn't answer, fear burgeoned inside her and she dug her nails into her palms and tried to think what dreadful news could make him look like this. The silence went on and she couldn't stand it. "What is it? What's happened?" He was close to the bed now, staring down at her as if he despised her.  
  
"Something very unpleasant has happened. The ornate white jade clip is missing." The words came out of the frozen mask of his face. "Would you have any idea where they might be?"  
  
"The.clip?" The words hung in the air. "I.wakaranai" She looked at the table where she had placed the box when she took it from her suitcase the day before. It wasn't there. "Didn't you put them away? I don't have them."  
  
"I know you don't have them. Until this afternoon Enishi had them."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Wearily, Aoshi put his hand in his coat pocket and drew it out and held it palm up. The precious white jade hair accessory lay in his palm. From his other pocket he brought out a folded sheet of paper.  
  
"Enishi apparently got cold feet. He returned the accessory in one of my quarters this afternoon by special courier along with this letter. Read it for yourself." He tossed it down, but didn't move away.  
  
She unfolded the paper with trembling fingers, and began to read: "To Shinomori Aoshi: No doubt you will be surprised to find enclosed your wedding gift to your bride. I know that I'm not a person that you can easily be trusted, but after meeting your wife the previous day she insisted that I take them as a payment of money she owes me greatly. I am returning this to you for safekeeping. I sincerely hope that your relationship with Megumi will not be concluded as mine was, with mistrust and jealousy threatening my plans to lead a whole new life. Yukishiro Enishi."  
  
The paper fluttered from Megumi's numb fingers and for a moment she was speechless, unable to believe that Enishi would have concocted such a story. Then it came to her, that he is capable of doing almost anything, but.  
  
"How did he get the precious accessory?" she whispered hoarsely,  
  
"I was hoping you would tell me."  
  
Good grief! Aoshi was as good as accusing her of theft! She was engulfed in such horror and rage that she scarcely knew what she was saying.  
  
"So you believe your wife is a thief?" she shouted.  
  
"I never said that----I'm just asking you for an explanation."  
  
"How dare you ask me to defend myself," she hissed. "I never would have suspected you as you do me. But that's because.because I love you. You wouldn't understand anything about that, of course."  
  
"Calm down----no one has accused you of anything, but what am I supposed to think? You refuse to tell me what's going between you and Enishi and what he really wanted."  
  
Megumi returned to the bed and sat down. Her face crumbled, and tears filled her eyes.  
  
"You're obviously in no shape to talk about anything now." Aoshi sound disgusted. "Try to get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Megumi couldn't have answered if she tried. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, her body wracked by dry, silent sobs. When she managed to open her eyes, he was gone.  
  
(Translation: wakaranai= I don't know) 


	10. A wish upon a shooting star

FINAL CHAPTER  
  
Part 10: A wish upon a shooting star  
  
  
  
In all her life Megumi had never felt such crushing anguish. It was all so horrible. How did Enishi get the accessory? What chance did she have of proving she didn't give the accessory to Enishi is he said she did? It really didn't matter---she had known the marriage was doomed for days now. Anyway, she had no intention of allowing herself to be humiliated again in the morning. She had to get away now.  
  
Wearily she got up from the bed and began to collect her belongings. She took only the things she had brought with her, leaving behind the wedding ring and the gift and clothes Aoshi had given her on her honeymoon. It was nearly dawn when she was finished.  
  
Without a sound she made her way down the stairs, across the foyer, and out into the courtyard. In no time, she had gotten out onto the main road through a gap in the fence. As if a miracle, a carriage owned by a missionary couple came by and gave her a ride to the train station bound for Tokyo. She used her savings, but it's not enough for the trip so she has chosen among the other available stops, and she selected Nagoya. At least its half-way 'home'. She wondered what will Dr. Gensai if he heard the whole story. Meanwhile she allow herself not to think on what to do once she took a brief sojourn in Nagoya.she couldn't plan now----the hurt and humiliation were too raw.  
  
The next two weeks passed by in a haze of pain. For the first three or four days, Megumi was inside a rented room of the inn she had found, and nursed her misery, eating nearly nothing, trying to forget her life in Kyoto. Finally, her funds were so low that she had to do something about it. She broke her isolation and found a job as a waitress and cook at a nearby restaurant, and plans for her route back to Tokyo. The hurt and humiliation receded and gave way to incredible loneliness. Despite all he'd done to her, she missed Aoshi dreadfully.  
  
Towards the end of the second week, she decided to contact Dr. Gensai through a public phone. Dr. Gensai is relieved to hear her voice from the phone and told her Aoshi was looking for her, with the help of other Onis. Megumi asked him to give him a message, that she would accept annulment and would sign any papers he wanted her to. But she even refused to tell Dr. Gensai where she was. She did not want Aoshi to find her, not now, not ever again.  
  
*****  
  
One rainy night after work, while hurrying home, she saw a man across the street that reminded her of Aoshi, wearing a wide light colored trench coat so unusual to be seen worn by most people. She turned away. She couldn't bear to look. She didn't want to see anyone or anything that reminded her of Aoshi.  
  
She shivered and her steps increased. A gust of wind blew rain in her face, almost blinding her. Something hard grabbed her arm, spinning her around. Frightened, she looked up.  
  
"No!" It couldn't be Aoshi's icy blue eyes staring down at her out of a wet, bleak face! "No!" She said it again.  
  
"Megumi." When he spoke she realized he was real and not an apparition.  
  
"Get away from me!" she screamed. "Get away!" Her voice was shrill with the terror that gave her strength to jerk away from him and put her feet in motion. She began to run as if her life depended on it. She ran in manic flight along the darkened streets, till she reached her room. She slammed the door behind her and threw the dead bolt in place. Her fingers slowly relaxed their hold on the bolt, and she leaned her against the door. A sharp rap caused her to jerk away from it. The rap came again.  
  
"Let me in, Megumi. I want to talk to you. I'm not leaving until you open this door." The pounding that followed jarred the wall. He was going to wake up all the people in the neighborhood. Let him in and get it over with, she reasoned with herself even while she was unbolting the door.  
  
He stood there in the pouring rain, and she stared, eyes large and frightened.  
  
"May I come in?"  
  
She nodded numbly, turned her back on him, and went to the small cooking area. She went to the small stone stove and put some fire on under a small porcelain kettle and set out two tea cups. She was pouring the herbal tea mixture by the dining room when Aoshi came up beside her.  
  
"One of those for me? Good! I don't know when I've been so cold."  
  
'I'll sign any annulment papers, Aoshi. Let's get on with it. I don't want you here."  
  
He sat down and cupped his hands around the one cup. "I don't blame you for being bitter, Megumi."  
  
"Don't you?"  
  
"I know you didn't take the accessory. I realize you must hate the sight of me, but at least let me tell you what happened and give me a chance to apologize."  
  
"If it will make you feel any better, I accept your apology. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to bow out of your life and get on with mine." She knew her biting words affected him. His lips tightened and his hands on the cup were shaking. "The morning you left, I decided to track down Enishi myself. I went up and find him just a town near Kobe. Needless to say, he was surprised to see me. He was very furious and perplexed; as it turned out he knew nothing at all about either the accessory or the letter. He was intimidated by my appearance that he admitted about his scheming plot and returned the check you had given him back in Kyoto. I had him taken care of and I'm confident he'll never bother you again." There was a dead coldness in his eyes when he said the last statement, "Anyhow, when I went back to Kyoto I quickly discovered who had set you up as a thief."  
  
"Misanagi." She said it calmly and looked defiantly into his surprised eyes.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"She was the only one who hated me enough to do that to me. She was the one who would gain the most if I left." Her voice cracked and she turned her face away.  
  
"Omasu saw her leaving your room just after you had been there to get your purse. I confronted Misanagi and she admitted she took it."  
  
Megumi's laugh was harsh and hollow. "It sounded more like a theater drama all the time. 'Mistress steals precious jewelry to frame up wife of her lover.'"  
  
His face turned deep red and their eyes did battle. "If you meant that to be funny, it isn't. I have never been Misanagi's lover and wouldn't be even if she was the only woman in earth."  
  
"No?" Anger brought her to her feet. "All right. Just to set the record straight, I overheard you talking to Misanagi the night we spent with your sensei. You said and I quote--- 'Megumi will not interfere with us, she has nothing to do with us.' Don't sit there and tell me I didn't hear that with my own ears."  
  
His expression mirrored his astonishment. "You took that to mean she is my mistress?"  
  
"I may be naïve, but I'm not stupid! I was going to ask for an annulment even before you practically accused me of being a thief."  
  
He was quiet for so long that she looked at him and was surprised to see the shadow of pain in his eyes. "Megumi." He held out his hand. "Come and sit down and let me tell you about Misanagi." She walked past him and sat down on a cushion.  
  
"The Sanadas and the Oniwabanshu's don't have any close contact, but apparently they got involved with the Kenshin-gumi to stop a group of German elite calling themselves the Black Knights in getting the Holy Water. I know you are a friend of Himura, so I presumed you knew of this event. You are one along with Dr. Gensai who wants to heal this certain man. Since the Kenshin-gumi and the Oniwabanshus had developed some ties, the two clans eventually met and cooperated. Okina-sensei got acquainted with their leader and met Moriya Misanagi. When everything was over, we learned she had fallen deeply at one of the black knights, a one-eared man called Schneider who was rumored to have died in battle. She presumed he still lives and it worries the Sanadas. They think the best way to get over with it and for the benefit of both sides; they arranged an inter-marriage between two clans. I was selected as the best possible candidate, after all she was a young okashira of the sanadas and I'm close to her age and also a leader myself for the oniwabanshus. She saw security and a broader influential status in becoming my wife. That's all there is to it. I don't love Misanagi, I have never loved her. But long ago I assumed the responsibility to look after her best interest, and if I had to help her look for this man she still pins for I will do it. I didn't think our marriage would change that relationship I had with her."  
  
They sat silently, but the tension was alive between them. Megumi felt emotion begin to infiltrate the icy barrier with which she had protected herself. The bitterness she had felt so long seemed to dissolve in one shuddering sigh, leaving only emptiness.  
  
She stared at him with eyes dilated with pain  
  
"It's impossible for me to forget you doubted me. Regardless of what evidence anyone had given me about you, it wouldn't have shaken my faith. I'd never have believed you as a thief." Her lower lip quivered.  
  
"Perhaps not, but you did believe that I was unfaithful to you, and surely that's much worse. The truth is, Megumi, that you doubted me as mush as I doubted you." She realized that what he said is true. If she hadn't actually believed that Aoshi didn't---couldn't----love her, she never would have left.  
  
"When we are hurt and angry," Aoshi continued, "We all say things we don't mean. I was angry and I was hurt and disappointed. I thought you still wanted Enishi. Most of all I was angry at myself for allowing my feelings to get involved with a woman."  
  
He stood up. "I have to be honest with you, Megumi. I never believed I'd truly love someone. I never even thought of someday my feelings would yearn and I'll be looking for a companion to spend my life with, to me all the women are the same. But when I met you, I knew you were different." He said it softly and she felt his hand lightly touch her hair. "I knew you would be faithful to me, but even before we were married I wanted more. I.I wanted your love as well."  
  
She looked up, now, at his unsmiling mouth and with all her heart she wanted to believe him. But conviction refused to come. She got up quickly.  
  
He grabbed her forearms and jerked her toward him. "I can't lose you! We had beginning of something good. Better than good--- wonderful! Its like seeing a shooting star in the sky and see your wishes come true."  
  
Her voice choked on a cry and her face crumbled hopelessly. Great tearing sobs shook her, and with a soft groan he pulled her against his chest.  
  
"Don't cry, koishii.don't cry." He said against the top of her head. He held her close, waiting for the storm of tears to spend itself. "Hurry, koishii," she heard him say. "Hurry and stop crying so I can kiss you." Firm fingers raised her chin and a soft handkerchief wiped her eyes and nose, then his lips were on hers.  
  
"Ai shiteru," he whispered against her lips. "Nante, ai shiteru wa! I've been through hell these past few weeks. I could have killed Misanagi!"  
  
She was trembling and wildly flushed. A corner of her mind still couldn't believe he could love her. The man who refused to allow strong emotions to take hold of reasoning has admitted it, with no utter denial. She put her hand on his chest and held herself away from him. "Onegai.don't say something you don't mean. I couldn't bear it."  
  
"Ai shiteru, I want you for the rest of my life. You are my life! I was so wrong about love. It is real, both hurtful and wonderful." Her heart turned over. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. "Put your arms around me, koishii." There was anguish in his voice that pierced her like a thorn. "Daite yo, ai shiteru mo ie yo."  
  
"Hai, I do love you." Her arms went tight around him. "I thought I was going to die from it, I love you so much."  
  
They stood locked together in the middle of the room. Their embrace was like finally coming home, like finding a safe harbor in a storm, truly like a wish has finally come true once upon a shooting star.  
  
(Translation: onegai=please, ai shiteru= I love you, Nante ai shiteru wa= Oh, how I love you, Daite yo, ai shiteru mo ie yo=hold me, tell me you love me too.)  
  
Finally '_ ~THE END~ _' at last  
  
** Credits:  
  
Many domo arigatous for the information/opinions/suggestions provided by Chaos, Chibi angel and Kawaiimisao and from many others that made the story possible, even if I made it mega-mushville to the end. Meiling-sama, Niisama and others for some help on Japanese terms that I need for the story's completion, which resulted a dry spell for my soujiro-misao fictions. If there is one thing I learned, an RK fiction writer who doesn't know much about RK should watch more.I think should be watching them all over again now ^_^ ohohoho...thanks for the help  
  
Ori  
  
** 


End file.
